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COPVBIOIIT DEPOSITS 



THE NEW APPRECIATION 
OF THE BIBLE 



The New Appreciation 
OF THE Bible 



A STUDY OF THE SPIRITUAL OUTCOME OF 
BIBLICAL CRITICISM 



By 
WILLARD CHAMBERLAIN SELLECK, D.D., 

Author of The Spiritual Outlook: A Survey of the 

Religious Life of Our Time as Related 

to Progress 



CHICAGO 

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 

1907 



^'^t^'' 



UBflARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

MAh 18 1907 

V- Copyrifirht Entrv , 

CUSS A XXc, No. 

COPY B. 



Copyright 1906 By 
The Univebsity of Chicago 



Published January 1907 



Composed and Printed By 

The University of Chicago Press 

Chicago, Illinois. U. S. A. 



Uo /IDp WiiU 



COMPANION OF MY AFFECTIONS AND JOYS 

SHARER OF MY STRUGGLES AND HOPES 

THE KINDEST AND BEST OF ALL MY CRITICS 

IN WHOSE LIFE AND CHARACTER 

SIMPLE, UNSELFISH, AND SINCERE 

THE SPIRIT OF THE MASTER'S TEACHING HAS BEEN 

BEAtTTlFULLY REFLECTED 

IT f nscrlbe Zbie IDolume 

WITH GRATEFUL AND TENDER FEELINGS 



PREFACE 

The author's aim has been to prepare a man- 
ual that might be distinctly helpful to those who 
desire to appropriate the best results of modern 
biblical scholarship. He has had in mind the needs 
of pastors, teachers, young people's classes and 
societies in the churches, parents, and thought- 
ful persons generally who really want to know 
the truth, but who want also a justly construct- 
ive interpretation and application of the truth. 
He believes thoroughly that the new view of the 
Bible is far more vital than the old; that there 
is no valid cause for alarm lest the essentials 
of spiritual religion suffer shock, through the 
acceptance of this view, provided the people are 
adequately informed and wisely led ; but that, on 
the contrary, it may be made to promote a 
great enlightenment and enrichment of popular 
faith and devotion, if only those who are re- 
sponsible for the instruction of the masses shall 
conscientiously do their duty. He holds, there- 
fore, that the imperative need of the hour is in- 
telligent, sympathetic, and frank explanation 
and guidance with reference to the manifold 
interests involved in this whole subject. 

The religious use of the Bible must always 
be its principal use. The value it possesses for 
the linguist, the archaeologist, and the historian. 



vm PREFACE 

great as this has been and will continue to 
be, can never equal the worth of its service to 
the spiritual life of mankind. People may read 
it for literary profit, and may study it for the 
sake of knowledge and culture; but all this will 
be as nothing beside the counsel, comfort, in- 
spiration, correction, and direction which it will 
afford for moral conduct and religious trust. 
But this most important use of the Bible must 
he consonant with the truth about its nature; 
and the more vital its hold upon the hearts of 
men, the more powerful its influence in prac- 
tical life, the more needful it must be that its 
real character should be clearly understood. 
Accordingly the common people, whoi are fed 
by the Bible and are exhorted to use it dili- 
gently in religious ways, are entitled to know, 
so far as possible, what the scholars have learned 
respecting its actual origin and history. To 
withhold such information will not only deprive 
them of an education to which they have a just 
claim, but will be sure to beget distrust and indif- 
ference. 

Now a part of the work of furnishing this 
needed popular instruction is to be done by the 
biblical professor, but perhaps an equally im- 
portant part is to be done by the enlightened 
pastor. He stands close to the ordinary people; 
he knows the state of their minds, he can sym- 
pathize with their perplexities and misgivings, 



PREFACE IX 

and therefore he can break the bread of truth 
to them according to their needs. Himself 
learning from the experts or the teachers in the 
universities, he can in turn teach the members 
of his congregation who look to him for leader- 
ship in spiritual things; and thus he may be the 
mediator of a new understanding between the 
Divine Spirit and those yearning souls that wait 
for illumination "more than they that watch for 
the morning." 

The point of view here indicated is the one 
from which the present volume is offered. It 
will be seen, therefore, that the book is not in- 
tended for scholars, but is rather a modest at- 
tempt by a working pastor to popularize some 
of the results of scholarship. It seeks to give 
the general reader a clear and trustworthy 
account of the changed view of the Bible which 
is growing up in these days, and to show him 
that this view does not weaken the hold of the 
Scriptures upon our esteem, but instead truly 
strengthens it, while tending positively to spir- 
itualize and vitalize our religion. Even more 
earnestly does it strive to set forth the great 
educational value of the Bible in our modern 
life, as it acts upon the heart of our civilization, 
and to point out the ways in which it may be 
most helpfully used, in its new aspects, in order 
to render its vast service of good to the individ- 
ual and to society. 



X PREFACE 

Of course the author does not presume to 
speak for any particular scholar, except as in- 
dicated by quotation or reference. The facts 
herein set forth are such as he has gleaned in his 
professional study, and he alone is responsible 
for the form in which he has stated them ; but he 
trusts he has not misrepresented, in any essen- 
tial respect, the position of modern learning in 
relation thereto. As to the convictions which 
he has expressed regarding the nature and work- 
ings of religion, most fully contained in the 
sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters of the first 
part, they are emphatically his own, although the 
influence of many teachers has combined with 
his own thought and experience to> produce them. 

The writer fervently hopes that a sympa- 
thetic reading of these pages will yield the net 
result of a quickened apprehension of spiritual 
truth. Believing profoundly in the immanence 
of the Divine Spirit, of whose active presence in 
our human world the Bible is a great monu- 
ment, he believes that a truer knowledge of the 
Bible must always make men more clearly aware 
of the reality and the immediateness of the spir- 
itual forces that fill the universe, thereby bring- 
ing them into a deeper conscious harmony with 
That God which ever lives and loves, 
One God, one law, one element, 
And one far-off divine event, 
To which the whole creation moves. 

Providence, R. I. W. C. S. 

February i, 1906 



PREFACE XI 

POSTSCRIPT 

The author's indebtedness to various writers 
is perhaps sufficiently indicated by the quota- 
tions and references in the text and the foot- 
notes. But he desires especially to acknowl- 
edge his obligation to one of the professors in 
the University of Chicago, who, after reading 
the manuscript for the press, kindly submitted 
many sympathetic and helpful criticisms. The 
corrections and suggestions thus recommended 
have been substantially incorporated in the final 
revision of the work, much enhancing its value. 

The book has been produced amid the mul- 
tifarious duties of a double pastorate, involving 
the constant care of a city church and a sub- 
urban village church, not to speak of many 
other semi-public services. On the score of this 
fact some allowance may be made for the lack 
of literary finish and technical soundness which 
the critical reader will undoubtedly discover. 
It is hoped that such defects will not be so great 
as seriously to impair the practical usefulness of 
the volume. 

w. c. s. 



CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

The Bible in Modern Life i 

PART I. THE MEANING OF BIBLICAL CRITICISM 

I. The History of the Bible, Since the Com- 
pletion OF THE Canons of the Two 

Testaments 19 

11. The Traditional View of the Bible ... 47 

III. What is Biblical Criticism ? 68 

IV. The New View OF THE Old Testament . . 95 
V. The NeW View OF THE New Testament . . 120 

VI. The Inspiration of the Bible . . . . 156 

VII. The Divine Revelation in the Bible . . 180 
VIII. The Moral and Religious Authority of 

THE Bible 202 

PART 11. THE VALUE AND USE OF THE BIBLE 

IX. The New Appreciation of the Bible . . 227 

X. The Bible and Spiritual Progress . . 247 
XL The Service of the Bible to Our Own 

Time 265 

XII. How TO Read the Bible in Its Modern 

Aspects 284 

XIII. The Use and Abuse of the Bible in the 

Sunday School 301 

XIV. The Bible in the Public School . . .324 
XV. The Bible in the Home 348 

XVI. The Bible and Personal Culture . . . 364 
XVII. The Bible and the Spread of Western 

Civilization 380 



INTRODUCTION 
THE BIBLE IN MODERN LIFE 



INTRODUCTION 

THE BIBLE IN MODERN LIFE 

The place which the Bible already fills in 
modern life is so large and honorable as to en- 
title it to the profound respect of all intelligent 
people. The still larger place which it is both 
worthy and certain to occupy in the future de- 
velopment of our civilization renders exceedingly 
important a most thorough consideration of 
every vital question connected with its nature 
and influence. It is impossible to understand 
the history of this civilization without knowing 
how the teachings of the Bible have been 
wrought, like a beautiful pattern, into its very 
warp and woof. It is likewise impossible to 
think of this civilization extending itself among 
the nations, in the immediate future, without in- 
volving these same teachings. Therefore it is not 
merely in a narrow, personal way, as concern- 
ing the religious interests of the individual, but 
rather in a very broad way, as flowing with the 
whole stream of our western civilization, now 
spreading over the earth, that we are adequately 
to measure the significance of the Bible in 
modern life. A few considerations will enforce 
this truth. 

I. Beginning with ourselves, we perceive at 
once that our private spiritual ideals, our ethi- 

3 



4 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

cal principles, our religious faith and devotion, 
and our hopes for the hereafter have been largely 
shaped by the ideas and influences emanating 
from this sacred volume. One may not claim 
that they have been produced thereby, for spir- 
itual aspiration, the moral sense, and the reli- 
gious sentiment are afforded by the nature of man, 
are instinctive and ineradicable; but it is a fact 
that they have taken form and direction, as they 
exist among us, from the molding hand which 
the Bible has laid upon our souls. For every 
man shares, consciously or unconsciously, in the 
heritage of the past. Now our entire western 
civilization, which is comparatively of recent 
origin, has grown up in the closest connection 
with those agencies and forces which the Bible 
has fostered and transmitted, so that our an- 
cestors, for hundreds of years, as well as we 
ourselves, have been educated in its conceptions 
and spirit: consequently the impression which it 
has made upon our habits of thought and feel- 
ing, upon conduct and character, is as deep, vital, 
and permanent as that which is produced upon a 
race by climate or long-established national gov- 
ernment. Thus the influence of the Bible is felt 
in our lives, both directly and indirectly, to a 
greater extent than the unreflecting are aware. 
When we think of it, however, we see that it 
would be about as difficult to free ourselves from 
its effectual sway as to take the texture out of 



INTRODUCTION 5 

a garment; and even if we possessed the desire 
and the ability to do this, it is quite as difficult 
to imagine what should or could be put in its 
place. No wonder we call the book sacred! for 
all our most sacred interests, whether drawn 
from the past or subsisting in the present or per- 
taining to the future, are bound up with its life- 
giving teachings. It is the light, the inspirer, 
and the comforter of our needy souls as nothing 
else on earth has ever been. Intelligently cher- 
ished, it is simply an inestimable means of spir- 
itual grace and power, working silently, day by 
day, like the sunshine, to enrich and beautify our 
lives. 

2. Similarly the Bible has entered into mod- 
ern literature in penetrating and thorough ways. 
Hosts of the greatest writers of the last thou- 
sand years have fed upon the Bible as upon no 
other work. Innumerable are the allusions to it, 
the quotations from it, and the illustrations 
afforded by it in the literary productions of 
European and American authors.^ How futile, 
then, to expect to understand these authors with- 

1 The late Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, shortly before his 
death, wrote touching this point as follows: "Wholly apart from 
its religious or from its ethical value, the Bible is the one book 
that no intelligent person who wishes to come into contact with 
the world of thought and to share the ideas of the great minds 
of the Christian era can afford to be ignorant of. All modern 
literature and all art are permeated with it. There is scarcely 
a great work in the language that can be fully understood and 
enjoyed without this knowledge, so full is it of allusions and illus- 
trations from the Bible. This is true of fiction, of poetry, of eco- 
nomic and philosophic works, and also of the scientific and even 



O NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

out some familiarity with the Bible! In nearly 
all our best literary possessions originating in 
recent centuries the facts, thoughts, and lessons 
of the Bible are reflected here and there on every 
hand; and its general spirit is undoubtedly the 
most pervasive quality in the moral and intellec- 
tual atmosphere of our time. Hence, if we de- 
sire to interpret correctly the literary history of 
modern times, thus comprehending the inner 
workings of the human spirit lying behind our 
whole occidental civilization, we shall find it 
needful to put ourselves at the point of view occu- 
pied by so many writers through an enlightened 
appreciation of the Bible. 

3. Again, consider how our institutional life 
recognizes and employs the Bible. Not only our 
churches with their assemblages and their cere- 
monies of worship, not only our marriage and 
funeral customs, but also most of our philan- 
thropic agencies, many of our schools and col- 
leges, and some of our civil laws and judicial 
proceedings have been fashioned and subserved, 
in no small degree, by these ancient Scriptures. It 
is not contended that such social institutions owe 
their existence primarily to the Bible, for they 

agnostic treatises. It is not at all a question of religion, or the- 
ology, or of dogma; it is a question of general intelligence." 

Emerson, too, wrote: "Shakespeare, the first literary genius 
of the world, the highest in whom the moral is not the predominat- 
ing element, leans on the Bible; his poetry presupposes it. If we 
examine this brilliant influence — Shakespeare — as it lies in our 
mind, we shall find it reverent, not only of the letter of this book, 
but of the whole frame of society which stood in Europe upon it." 



INTRODUCTION 7 

spring out of native instincts and tendencies, and 
there would be something like them even if 
there had never been any Bible; but the point is, 
that the Bible has had actually to do with their 
development, and so exerts its power through 
their far-reaching influence. 

But the chief fact to be noted here is that the 
Bible is the specific and main instrument of all 
our distinctively religious institutions. What a 
striking phenomenon it is that every Christian 
church, every Young Men's or Young Women's 
Christian Association, and every Sunday school 
makes use of some portion of this book as the 
principal implement of spiritual culture! It is 
the sword of the Spirit wielded by the armies of 
the Lord — the one mighty weapon of offense and 
defense, to assail the works of ignorance and 
sin, and to keep every warrior's heart incorrupt- 
ible and undefiled. It is the one great textbook 
of righteousness and holy love used throughout 
our western world for the education of old and 
young in the highest and most vital things in 
human life. No other tool ever had such honor, 
or wrought upon so gigantic a task, or accom- 
plished such wonderful results. It is unique and 
marvelous as an instrumentality for the main- 
tenance of all that is best in our modern civili- 
zation. 

4. Furthermore, it must be observed that the 
Bible is now being rapidly distributed over the 



8 NEW|APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

earth. The vast missionary enterprises of the 
various churches, springing up in the nineteenth 
century, have been inaugurated in nearly all 
lands, among hundreds O'f millions of people 
who, a short time ago, knew nothing of Judaism 
and Christianity. Invariably the Bible has ac- 
companied these enterprises, without which they 
had never been undertaken, and by virtue of 
which they have constantly subsisted. As a con- 
sequence of this Christian expansion, aided by 
the growth of learning and by other important 
factors, the Scriptures have now attained a cir- 
culation among the races and languages of the 
globe far surpassing that of any other collection 
of writings. Last year, for instance, the circu- 
lation of the American Bible Society alone 
amounted to 1,723,791 copies, and during the 
eighty-six years of its organization amounted 
to 70,677,225 ; while the British and Foreign 
Bible Society reported a circulation last year of 
5,067,421 copies, and a total since the founda- 
tion of the society of 175,038,965. There are 
other societies engaged in distributing the Bible, 
but I am unable to give their figures; and while 
it is impossible to make any accurate estimate of 
the total circulation throughout the world, a 
trustworthy authority says it would probably 
reach 500,000,000. This means that the Bible 
has been translated into many languages and dia- 
lects — over 300 — and that the demand for it is 



INTRODUCTION 9 

steadily increasing. Surely, if the Bible conveys 
to mankind a knowledge of God, it is not diffi- 
cult to believe in the ultimate fulfilment of the 
old Hebrew prophecy — ''the earth shall be full 
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea."^ 

Seeing thus the remarkable place Avhich the 
Bible occupies in modern life, and which it is 
destined to enlarge, the highest significance at 
once attaches to the fact that the general view 
of the Bible hitherto prevailing is undergoing a 
great change in these days. The recent vast ex- 
pansion of learning, and the many searching cor- 
rections effected by it, constitute one of the most 
notable achievements of our civilization. Few 
subjects have been affected by the twofold pro- 
cess more thoroughly and helpfully than the 
Bible. Light from various quarters has been 
thrown upon its pages, researches in the ancient 
lands connected with its origin have been made, 
and studies in the historic circumstances attend- 
ing its production and transmission have been 
patiently prosecuted, all contributing to render 
the Bible a much richer book for us than it could 
possibly have been for our forefathers. But it 
is also a different book, in the sense of bearing 
a dift'erent nature. It is no longer regarded in 
so narrow and mechanical a way as formerly; 
it is less a mysterious oracle, and more a living 

' Isa. xi. 9. 



lO NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

voice; and if we use it less as a talisman or 
shibboleth, we feel it more as a throbbing en- 
ergy in the struggling life of our time. We 
do not think of it as having been written by the 
Almighty, or by angels, or by infallible human 
amanuenses; but rather as having grown out of 
the personal and national experiences of a peo- 
ple who were wonderfully fitted by racial en- 
dowment and by a long, peculiar discipline to 
feel and express profound moral and religious 
truths. The steps by which it came into exist- 
ence can be traced to a great extent, the stages 
of its development can be marked off with ap- 
proximate accuracy; and we see that whatever 
divine element is involved in its creation is just 
such as we ourselves may know something about 
in our purest spiritual consciousness — the pres- 
ence and power of the spirit of God working in 
and through the spirit of man ^'both to will and 
to doi O'f his good pleasure." So the marvelous 
in the sense of the miraculous diminishes, and 
the marvelous in the sense of the natural in- 
creases. 

This fundamental change In our general con- 
ception of the Bible will be elucidated and am- 
plified. Here let me simply remark that the 
facts and truths involved in it are embraced 
in what is called the science of historical and 
literary criticism, and more particularly in the 
branch of this science known as biblical criti- 



INTRODUCTION ii 

cism. This new science, which is giving us 
largely a new Bible, is creating a new interest 
among intelligent people in the study of the pre- 
cious volume; and I venture to hope that we are 
on the eve of a better and more diligent use of 
these sacred writings for vital purposes than has 
yet prevailed. To those who have eyes to see 
the trend of spiritual events, the inevitable im- 
provement that must ensue from such enlight- 
ening and vivifying influences is indeed a glad- 
dening vision. Therefore they welcome this 
modern science of biblical criticism as a radiant, 
beautiful benefactress, like so many of her pre- 
decessors in the sisterhood of sciences, and re- 
joice to receive her blessing. 

We are bound, however, to recognize the 
prevalence of a contrary judgment. There are 
those who are hostile to this science, deeming 
it a source of great evil. They hold it respon- 
sible for disturbing the faith of earnest Chris- 
tians, for undermining the foundations of reli- 
gious institutions, for depleting the churches, and 
for setting people adrift upon a sea of uncer- 
tainty, skepticism, and secularism. Nor can we 
deny that there is some truth in these allega- 
tions. Every great change in religious thought 
produces, inevitably, important personal and 
social consequences. To alter men's ruling ideas 
about the Bible, or the Church, or Jesus Christ, 
or God, or human destiny must affect their prac- 



12 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

tical attitude toward all Christian interests. 
And undoubtedly the manifold changes now 
occurring in popular thought are having a con- 
siderable influence upon the conduct of large 
numbers of men and women with reference to 
public worship, the observance of Sunday, the 
reading of the Scriptures, and religious matters 
in general. 

But it is a mistake to suppose that these 
changes are due solely or chiefly to biblical cri- 
ticism; that is only one of the causes. They be- 
long to the whole intellectual and spiritual move- 
ment of the age; all the other sciences have con- 
tributed to them; the general progress of civili- 
zation lies behind them and is implicated in 
them. It is likewise a mistake to suppose that 
their influence is, on the whole, baneful. It is 
no more so than that of all knowledge, freedom, 
and growth. There are incidental losses in 
every form of human advancement — from child- 
hood to manhood, from dependence to self-re- 
liance, from simplicity to complexity of social 
life; but these are more than offset by the gains 
which a natural development yields. If the 
world is now learning that some of its former 
conceptions of divine processes have been par- 
tially false because imperfect and narrow, and is 
therefore rectifying them, there will be, indeed, 
some evil results; but these will be more than 
counterbalanced by the immense benefits which 



INTRODUCTION 13 

must eventually issue. At any rate, the process 
is going on, we cannot stop it, and we must pre- 
pare to accept the consequences, whatever they 
may be. It is pleasant to be able to believe that, 
in the main, they are sure to be good. 

There is another serious aspect of this sub- 
ject. The friends of Christianity who are mis- 
takenly opposing biblical criticism are certain to 
alienate many thinking persons from the 
churches. This has been done already to a sad 
extent. There is good reason to believe that 
many bright young people, educated in our in- 
stitutions of learning, are turning away from the 
churches today because of their intellectual in- 
hospitality. Instead of finding them leaders of 
thought, they find them, too often, reluctant fol- 
lowers. Instead of seeing them expecting more 
light to break forth, more truth to be discovered, 
they behold them clinging to a revelation that is 
finished. Instead of being encouraged by them, 
as they are encouraged at college, to think, to 
examine, to investigate, and to explore with per- 
fect fearlessness, and to welcome the established 
conclusions of scientific study, they are fre- 
quently warned against all this, and they hear 
unfavorable judgments pronounced upon the 
work of some of the world's greatest scholars. 
Thus, instead of being fellow-helpers to the 
truth, the churches often become a hindrance to 
its attainment. Manifestly this is very unfor- 



14 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

tunate; and the churches are the principal suffer- 
ers. For no worse calamity could befall the 
Christian churches in our day than to lose the 
support of the thinking classes. And they will 
lose it, more or less, if this policy be continued. 
The hope that it will not be continued lies in 
the fact that, as a rule, highly educated men are 
increasingly demanded for the Christian min- 
istry. Let the demand be insisted upon, and let 
the ministers, after they get into their pulpits, 
have as much confidence in the Spirit of Truth 
as they had while in the university. The Mas- 
ter promised that that Spirit should lead his dis- 
ciples into all truth. Let them follow such a 
divine leadership, encourage their hearers to do 
likewise, prepare them to look for fresh dis- 
closures of God's secrets, and honor all who in 
any way are seeking to discover them. So shall 
they help to make the Christian Church the 
staunch ally of all sound learning, and thereby 
save to her service the lovers of truth and prog- 
ress. 

I believe, then, that the gravest danger to be 
feared from biblical criticism today is, not that 
the acceptance of its teachings will undermine 
the faith of devout souls, but that the rejection 
of its well-established results, together with an 
attitude of unfriendliness toward all its work, 
v/ill do the Christian Church incalculable harm 
through the alienation of vast numbers of 



INTRODUCTION 15 

thoughtful, inquiring people. So believing, I 
desire, as a reverent and glad disciple of Jesus 
Christ, to do what I can to avert this danger 
from the great institution which serves the world 
in his name. Accordingly, with such ability as 
is at my disposal, I have undertaken a candid dis- 
cussion of the matters here broached, in the firm 
conviction that the facts and truths which the 
scholars have brought to light, not only do not 
invalidate the most spiritual faith in the Bible 
and in Jesus Christ, but on the contrary greatly 
enhance such a faith. By showing how this is 
true, comprehensively and yet with some detail, 
and by such a course alone, can "the present dis- 
tress" which Professor McFadyen ^ depicts be ad- 
equately relieved; only so can the churches 
again be duly enriched by the fruits of the new 
learning, and become thoroughly equipped for 
the stupendous tasks of a new age; and only so 
can we expect our historic religion to have its 
full share in the supreme work of spiritualizing 
our modern civilization. 

3 See John Edgar McFadyen, Old Testament Criticism and the 
Christian Church (Scribner, 1903), chap. i. 



PART I 

THE MEANING OF BIBLICAL 
CRITICISM 



CHAPTER I 

THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 

In the present chapter a sketch is to be 
given of the history of the Bible. There is re- 
quired at least an outline of the story of its pres- 
ervation, transmission, and diffusion since the 
various writings composing it were collected, 
selected, and recognized as authoritative and 
sacred. The long process of thus gathering and 
establishing them, technically known as the for- 
mation of the Canon, constitutes a separate 
theme — preliminary, indeed, and of the greatest 
interest — but needing to be treated by itself. 
For the simple purpose, however, of tracing the 
principal steps by which we have come into pos- 
session of the English Bible of our own day, it 
is necessary to cover only the last fifteen or six- 
teen centuries. Accordingly, for convenience, 
let us go back to that important way-mark in 
Christian history, 325 a. d.^ which was signal- 
ized by the adoption of the Nicene Creed; and 
from this point of departure, looking before and 
after, we may see the main facts which we need 
to notice. 

Back of the date here mentioned there lay 
nearly three hundred years of remarkable Chris- 
tian activity following the death of Jesus, during 
which the gospel had spread abroad through the 

19 



20 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

greater portion of the civilized world, and at 
length had won recognition and acceptance by 
imperial Rome in the person of Constantine the 
Great, who had just come to the throne of the 
Caesars. The nev/ religion had produced a fresh, 
strong literature, the best parts of which had 
been sifted out, gathered together, used and ap- 
pealed to, in worship and teaching, by the gen- 
eral consensus of Christian opinion. This devel- 
opment had been slow and natural, and was not 
yet complete; in fact the final determination of 
the New Testament Canon, by ecclesiastical de- 
cree, did not occur until 495 a. d.^ Yet, at the 
time we are considering, the chief O'f these select 
writings were already most highly esteemed, 
being regarded as very precious and practically 
of equal rank with the Old Testament. These 
last-named scriptures were produced within the 
fifteen centuries of Israelitish history which lay 
still farther back, before the time of Christ — in- 
deed, the bulk of them within the second half of 
that period. They, likewise, had been sifted out 
and brought together — first, and gradually, into 
three distinct collections, and finally into a single 
collection; and toward the close of the period 
they had been translated into Greek for the 
use of Greek-speaking Jews, of whom there 

1 Professor Edward C. Moore, in a lecture. See especially his 
volume, The New Testament in the Christian Church (Macmillan, 
1904), pp. 32, 33, 160-163. Very valuable. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 21 

were many at Alexandria and the other leading 
cities of the Graeco-Roman world. 

Some of these sacred writings — possibly of 
both Testaments, and certainly of the Old — ex- 
isted upon prepared skins, but most of them upon 
papyrus, a material introduced among the Greeks 
from the Egyptians several centuries previously. 
It consisted of sheets made from the papyrus 
plant, a species of bulrush found along the river 
Nile and also in Syria. The interior or pith of 
the stalk, after removing the rind, was cut into 
thin strips, which were laid lengthwise, side by 
side, and crosswise on top, and then while damp 
were pressed together, being rubbed even and 
smooth by some hard substance like bone or 
ivory. Upon that crude kind of "paper" (de- 
rived from this very word "papyrus") those 
precious words of religious thought and faith 
were inscribed with a sort of pen called a stylus, 
made from a reed. Obviously copies of the 
Scriptures, in whole or in part, must have been 
made quite frequently, in order both to preserve 
them and to circulate them among the churches. 

After 325 A. D. a few events and develop- 
ments took place which affected favorably the 
course of the Bible. 

I. Christianity, being espoused by the em- 
peror, immediately became honorable and pow- 
erful; its friends multiplied, its churches in- 
creased, and wealth began to flow to its support. 



22 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

All this naturally augmented the demand for 
copies of the Scriptures. Constantine himself 
ordered no less than fifty for the churches of 
Constantinople alone. 

2. The Christian writings, which had grown 
in importance until they had come to be as highly 
esteemed ^ for spiritual uses as those of the Old 
Testament, were now more frequently recorded 
upon parchment. This had the twofold effect of 
rendering the Scriptures more secure, and of fa- 
cilitating the collection of the New Testament 
books into a single volume, which had been im- 
practicable before because of the inconvenient 
size of the papyrus roUs.^ At least two copies, 

2 "We have seen that it was upon the regular reading of the 
apostolic literature in the public services of the Christians for 
worship that the hallowing of this literature followed. The later 
generations would have said that they read these books because 
they deemed them inspired and sacred. So we say today. The 
earlier generations read them because the books told of Christ and 
took the place of the Apostles. They came to deem sacred and 
inspired, writings which did thus tell of Christ and take the place 
of the Apostles, and which they had been accustomed to read, along 
with the inspired writings of the Old Testament, in the services for 
public worship. 

"Whatever literature was read in the leading Christian com- 
munities from Sunday to Sunday in the last decades of the second 
century, that, after a time, men came to regard as divine Scrip- 
ture, being led up to that idea by the long process which we have 
reviewed. That high authority which they found this literature, 
for inward and spiritual reasons, to possess, they soon came to con- 
ceive in outward fashion, and to explain in the manner in which 
they had already reasoned concerning the authority of the Old 
Testament." — Professor E. C. Moore's The New Testament in the 
Christian Church, pp. 136, 137, 140, 141. 

^ "The elder of the church in Western Asia who arose in his 
congregation to read the letter of St. Paul which we know as the 
Epistle to the Ephcsians, must have held in his hand a roll of white 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 23 

Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, of the 
New Testament made shortly after this date, 
that is, made about the middle of the fourth cen- 
tury, were destined to survive until our own 
time. 

3. Jerome was born 340 or 342 a. d., and 
died in 420. He became the leading Christian 
scholar of the Western Church, and at the sug- 
gestion of Pope Damasus devoted his abilities 
to the service of the Bible. He revised the exist- 
ing Latin translation of the New Testament, 
rendered into Latin the Psalms from the Sep- 
tuagint, and with the aid of a few Jewish rabbis 
executed a new translation of the remainder of 
the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew. 
This work, notwithstanding the papal sanction, 
encountered prolonged opposition from the con- 
servative party in the Church. Nevertheless it 
won its way, and in the ninth century, after var- 
ious modifications, superseded all other versions, 
being adopted with the utmost unanimity and 
praise, and having the title "Vulgate" trans- 
ferred to it. It became the one authoritative ver- 



or light yellow material about four feet in length and some ten 
inches in height. The Acts of the Apostles might have formed a 
portly roll of thirty feet, or might even have been divided into 
two or more sections. Even had the idea been entertained of 
making a collection of all the books which now form our New 
Testament, it would have been quite impossible to have combined 
them in a single volume, so long as papyrus was the material used." 
— Frederick G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, 
p. 94. 



24 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

sion for all the churches of western Europe until 
the Protestant Reformation.* 

From about the middle of the fifth century 
onward for a thousand years, the Church of 
Rome was engaged in playing that conspicuous 
role which her bold ecclesiastical policy and the 
national changes occurring in Europe rendered 
possible. Under her administration Christianity 
was spread abroad with remarkable vigor and 
skill, and gradually won the allegiance of the 
great barbarian tribes — first of the Franks, and 
then of their German kinsmen; thus it became a 
powerful factor in the development of the mod- 
ern European nations. Moreover, amid the 
ruins of the Roman Empire, this mighty Church 
stood for whatever of culture, order, reverence, 
and glory the word civilisation could mean. It 
was not a time in which learning could thrive, 
for it was an era of turbulence resulting from the 
decay of the old paganism and the conflict of 
Christianity with the new barbarism. The 
knowledge of Greek had nearly died out, Latin 
was the language of the schools, the churches, 
and the courts, and new dialects were growing 
up here and there with the rise of new peoples. 
Yet a degree of scholarship was still main- 

* "There were good reasons for the supremacy of the Vulgate. 
The devotions, the Canon Law, the liturgical usages of a thou- 
sand years, the universal value of Latin as the language of edu- 
cated men, worked toward this end." — Professor Henry S. Nash, 
The History of the Higher Criticism (Macmillan, 1900), p. 23, note 



HISTORY OF|THE BIBLE 25 

tained, some attempts were made at popular in- 
struction, and a few of the universities were 
founded that were destined to become great cen- 
ters of learning. Above all, in the monasteries 
the monks were busy transcribing the books of 
the Bible, in order to meet the constant demand 
for copies of the Scriptures. They constituted a 
class of scribes, who made a special business of 
copying manuscripts, and they attained great 
skill in the art. Their work had to be done by 
hand, it required infinite care and patience, and 
at best many mistakes were inevitable. Some 
of the scribes illuminated and ornamented their 
copies, so as to render them beautiful; and occa- 
sionally kings or ecclesiastical dignitaries caused 
manuscripts to be made the letters of which, es- 
pecially in the names of God and Christ, were 
covered with silver or gold. Sometimes, in- 
deed, these were made with all the letters in 
gold, and were bound with plates of silver and 
gold, studded with jewels.^ 

This work of transcribing was not confined 
to the Latin language; translations were made 
into the various dialects with which Christianity 
had come into contact. A Catholic writer^ in- 

5 "Beautiful manuscripts, finely written in golden letters 
upon thin parchment, were articles of pious luxury even in the 
fourth century." — Eduard W. E. Reuss, History of the New Testa- 
ment (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884), p. 385; translated by E. L. 
Houghton. See Book III for much valuable information on the 
above subject. 

« Mr. L. A. Buckingham, The Bible in the Middle Ages, Lon- 
don, 1853. 



26 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Stances sixteen of these translations into modern 
languages made between the fourth and the fif- 
teenth centuries. But the vast majority of the 
copies of the Bible circulating in the West dur- 
ing this long period were in the Latin — some- 
times made from the Old Latin version, some- 
times from Jerome's translation, sometimes 
partly from each. 

The process of copying the Scriptures was 
necessarily expensive. It required many small 
skins to yield sufficient parchment,*^ which itself 
was costly, and the task involved an immense 
amount of labor. In the uncial manuscripts each 
letter was a capital and had to be written sep- 
arately; and although the cursive style of writ- 
ing, mainly employed after the ninth century, 
was much more easy and rapid, still the copying 
of the whole Bible was a toilsome undertaking. 
It has been estimated that the cost of producing 
a complete copy of the Scriptures in this fashion 
at present would be at least one thousand dol- 
lars. Therefore only the more important books 
of the Bible, such as the gospels or the epistles 
of Paul, were extensively circulated during the 
Middle Ages, between the fifth and the twelfth 
centuries. Under the circumstances, however, 
these may be said to have had a wide reading, 
and doubtless many thousands of manuscripts, 

"!■ The size of the pages varied from 9%X6% to 20X13% 
inches. The number of sheets required to contain the entire Bible 
made a huge volume. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 27 

great and small, might have been found in the 
various churches, monasteries and university li- 
braries, as well as in private hands, throughout 
mediaeval Europe. 

Approaching the era of the Protestant Ref- 
ormation, we encounter a growing spirit of in- 
dependence among the people, along with in- 
creasing corruptions on the part of the priests, 
monks, and higher ecclesiastics. A Christian 
heart-hunger craved the bread of life in the 
form oif translations of the Bible into the mother- 
tongues of the different peoples, especially 
those of Teutonic stock. Various partial 
attempts were made in England to satisfy this 
desire, reaching from Csedmon's paraphrase of 
the Scripture narrative, written about 670, to 
the work of John Wycliffe in the fourteenth cen- 
tury. Wycliffe rendered the New Testament into 
English about 1380, and the Old Testament in 
1382 or a little later. This was only a secondary 
translation from the Latin Vulgate, but it was 
a great and promising achievement.^ Other in- 
fluences were at work which were soon to pro- 
duce important results. Among these was a re- 
awakening of interest in the study of the Greek 
language and literature, as an outcome of the 

^ "This .... work was mainly executed by Wycliffe himself, 
but his friend Nicholas Hereford did part of the Old Testament. 
Afterwards the whole was revised by John Purvey, who assisted 
Wycliffe in his parish duty at Lutterworth, and finished his edition 
probably not long after the reformer's death" (1384). — Encyclo- 
pwdia Britannica, Vol. XXIV, p. 710. 



28 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Crusades. More significant still was the inven- 
tion of printing ^ in the fifteenth century, the serv- 
ice of which was to dispense with the laborious 
copying of manuscripts. Erasmus was born in 
1467 and lived until 1536, and in the course of 
his career did more, perhaps, than any other 
man to sow the seeds of revolution by his bib- 
lical labors as well as by his writings. He be- 
came a critical scholar, was sometime professor 
of Greek in Cambridge, and published the New 
Testament in Greek with an improved Latin 
translation and comments. The first edition ap- 
peared in 1 5 16, and several other editions, some- 
what revised, in quick succession. The work 
created a furor everywhere and marked a new 
epoch in religious thought.^^ 

At the same time, over on the Continent, 
Luther was drawing the thunderbolt out of the 
sky by defying the power of Rome, and the Prot- 
estant Reformation was immediately inaugu- 
rated. In his prison-retreat in the Castle of Wart- 

^ The first book printed in Europe was the Latin Bible, issued 
by Gutenberg in 1456, a copy o£ which is in the British Museum. 

1" "Never was volume more passionately devoured. A hun- 
dred thousand copies were soon sold in France alone. The fire 
spread as it spread behind Samson's foxes in the Philistines' corn. 
The clergy's skins were tender from long impunity. They shrieked 
from pulpit and platform, and made Europe ring with their clamor. 
The more loudly they cried the more Europe perceived the justice 
of their chastisement. The words of the Bible have been so long 
familiar to us that we can hardly realize what the effect must 
have been when the Gospel was brought out fresh and visible 
before the astonished eyes of mankind." — James Anthony Froude, 
Life and Letters of Erasmus (Scribner, 1894), p. 127. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 29 

burg he at once began the translation of the 
Bible into the German language, and, along 
with other arduous labors, continued indefati- 
gably at this great task for nearly twenty-five 
years, comprising the publication and revision 
of successive editions of his work.^^ 

Returning to England, we approach the de- 
velopments which led directly to the production 
of the King James or Authorized Version of the 
Bible. We are not to think of this as the work 
of a single master-mind, or even as the unaided 
achievement of the particular group of scholars 
who finally gave it form. Behind it lay the 
labors of many toilers, covering nearly a cen- 
tury; indeed, if we include those of Wycliffe and 
his assistants, they extend over two and a quar- 
ter centuries. Foremost among all who contrib- 
uted to the great result was William Tyndale, 
who doubly gave his life to the cause. He was 
born in 1484, was educated mainly at Oxford, 
but in 1 5 10 was drawn to Cambridge by the 
fame of Erasmus, who was lecturing there. 

11 The New Testament was first issued at Wittenberg in 
September, 1522; the first complete Bible in 1534; a revised edition, 
with the co-operation of Melanchthon and other friends, in 1541; 
and still another revision in 1545. "Luther's Bible not only be- 
came the firmest support of the Reformation and the noblest monu- 
ment of his own fame, but it is a national German work Its 

language, happily rising out of Old German harshness, the best that 
Luther wrote, and surpassed by none of his contemporaries, sounded 
like a prophecy of a golden age of literature, and in manly vigor 
and anointing of the Holy Spirit it has ever remained a model 
unapproached." — E. W. E. Reuss, History of the New Testament, 
Vol. II, pp. 489, 490. 



30 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Doubtless the influence of this brilliant teacher 
helped him to resolve upon the undertaking to 
which he so earnestly devoted himself. After 
nearly ten years of precarious employment, and 
being convinced that he could not safely bring 
out his work at home, he left England in 1524 
and went to Hamburg. Here he completed his 
translation of the New Testament, and the next 
year it was published at Worms.^^ Several re- 
vised editions appeared in the decade following, 
along with portions of the Old Testament. But 
he was not able to finish the latter before he was 
seized by order of the emperor and put tO' death 
as a heretic, in 1536.^^ 

The year before Tyndale died Miles Cover- 
dale translated the Bible from the Dutch (i. e., 
German) and Latin. It was printed abroad, but 
promptly appeared in England. While not actu- 
ally authorized, the work had been produced 
with the sanction and support of Thomas Crom- 

12 "Money for the work had been found by a number of Eng- 
lish merchants, and by their means the copies were secretly con- 
veyed into England, where they were eagerly bought and read on 
all sides." — Frederick G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manu- 
scripts, p. 212. 

^" The emperor was Charles V, ruler of Spain, Austria, and 
the Netherlands. Tyndale was residing in Antwerp at the time of 
his base betrayal in 1535. Being kidnapped, he was imprisoned at 
Vilworde, in Belgium. Henry VIII, king of England, did nothing 
to procure his release, and Cromwell, though sympathizing with 
the unfortunate man, could not save him. He was tried, con- 
victed of heresy, and strangled to death, his body being burned, 
near Brussels, October 6, 1536. lie died with the prayer on his 
lips, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes!" The very next 
year Henry permitted Cranmcr to circulate the Bible in England. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 31 

well, secretary of state and otherwise chief 
functionary under King Henry VIII, and was 
dedicated to the king. It was the first complete 
Bible printed in English, and the Psalms in it 
are those still used in the Book of Common 
Prayer of the Church of England. Two revised 
editions were issued in 1537, being "set forth 
with the King's most gracious license." 

The demand for the Bible grew. A work 
known as "Matthew's Bible," which was really 
a completion of Tyndale's enterprise, was pub- 
lished in London in 1537, though printed prob- 
ably in Antwerp. In 1539 Richard Taverner, 
an Oxford scholar, issued an independent trans- 
lation. In the same year the "Great Bible," so 
called from its very large size, was brought out 
under the direction of Cromwell, who ordered 
a copy to be put in some convenient place in 
every church. This work was not a new trans- 
lation, but a thorough revision, made by Cover- 
dale, of Matthew's Bible. The edition of 1540 
and subsequent editions contained a long pref- 
ace by Archbishop Cranmer, whence it is often 
called "Cranmer's Bible." 

But a reaction against Protestantism soon set 
in ; and in 1 543 all translations of the Bible bear- 
ing Tyndale's name were ordered destroyed, and 
three years later Coverdale's New Testament was 
joined in the same condemnation. "The public 
use of the English Bible was forbidden, and 



32 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

copies were removed from the churches." A num- 
ber of scholars, fleeing the country, found a wel- 
come in Geneva, where Calvin and Beza were in 
the midst of their great work. Here was pro- 
duced the important "Geneva Bible" which con- 
sisted of a careful revision of the Old Testament 
of the ''Great Bible" and of Tyndale's last revis- 
ion of the New Testament. This was published 
in 1560, and soon came to be the Bible of the 
household among English people. Its superiority 
incited a demand for a further revision of the 
"Great Bible" for use in the churches. Such a 
work, known as the "Bishops' Bible," was pub- 
lished in 1568, with a second edition in 1572. In 
1 582-1 609 the Roman Catholics produced the 
Rheims and Douai Bible, which was a transla- 
tion, not from the original Hebrew and Greek, 
but from the Latin Vulgate. 

But there was still a call for improvement. The 
marginal comments in the Genevan Bible, which 
were of a Calvinistic tone, were objectionable to 
many, while other faults were pointed out by 
scholars. At a conference called by King James 
I, in 1604, the subject was brought up by Dr. 
Reynolds, President of Corpus Christi College, 
Oxford, and a Puritan leader, who "moved his 
Majesty that there might be a new translation 
of the Bible, because those which were allowed 
in the reign of King Henry VIII and Edward 
VI were corrupt, and not answerable to the truth 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 33 

of the original." ^^ He was supported by Bishop 
Bancroft of London, and the king was interested ; 
indeed, it was the latter who proposed the plan 
of procedure, namely : that the revision or trans- 
lation should be made principally by the univer- 
sities; that it should be approved by the bishops, 
by the Privy Council, and by the king himself; 
and that it should have no marginal commentary. 
A list of fifty-four distinguished scholars was 
approved for the task, and in 1607 they set to 
work, at least forty-seven of them. They were 
divided into six groups, sitting two at Westmin- 
ster, two at Oxford, and two at Cambridge. 
Taking the Bishops' Bible as a basis, they con- 
sulted and used to some extent the translations 
of Tyndale, Matthew, Coverdale, the "Great 
Bible," the Geneva Bible, and the Rheims and 
Douai Version. They were occupied laboriously 
for two years and nine months, the last nine 
months being given to the final revision by a 
committee of two from each of the six groups. 
The new translation was published in 161 1, 
with a "Dedication to the King," and with a 
lengthy preface bestowing abundant praise upon 
him for his royal patronage, and explaining the 
principles and aim.s of the v/ork. It was "ap- 
pointed to be read in churches," and, though there 
is no record of any formal act of authorization, 
it at once superseded the Bishops' Bible and 

1* The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, 1893, p. 85. 



34 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

grew in popular favor until it became the recog- 
nized Bible of the English people. 

The interest which these various early trans- 
lations into the vernacular awakened was in- 
tense. We in these calm, tolerant days may not 
easily conceive how matters then stood. Say 
what they will to the contrary, the Catholics did 
not want the common people to read the Bible. 
^'Charles V and Philip II passed a decree which 
inflicted the punishment of death by burning on 
any in the Netherlands who presumed to read 
the Bible in any language which they could 
understand." ^^ Likewise in England, "even 
under Henry VIII, it was a crime punishable 
with death to read the Bible in a language which 
they understood." ^^ Consequently the people had 
known little about its precious contents; but now 
that it had become possible for them to read or 
hear it, they were profoundly stirred. 

"Englishmen," says a scholar of the time, "were so 
eager for the gospel as to affirm that they would buy a 
New Testament even if they had to give a hundred 
thousand pieces of money for it." Bibles and pamph- 
lets were smuggled over to England and circulated among 
the poorer and trading classes through the agency 
of an association of "Christian Brethren," consisting prin- 



^•^ Motley's Rise of th^ Dutch Republic, Vol. I, pp. y^y 228; 
given by Archdeacon Farrar in The Bible — Its Meaning and Su- 
premacy, p. 212. 

1® Farrar, ibid., p. 324. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 35 

cipally of London tradesmen and citizens, but whose 
missionaries spread over the country at large/' 

Notwithstanding the deep feeling thus every- 
where manifested with reference to the Bible, the 
authorities opposed its popular use. When Tyn- 
dale's translation appeared in England, its de- 
struction was promptly ordered, and thousands 
of copies were burned at the old cross of St. 
Paul's, as "a burnt offering most pleasing to Al- 
mighty God."^^ Bishop Tunstall and other 
bishops subscribed money to buy up all the copies 
they could get hold of; but this proceeding 
merely helped Tyndale to pay his debts and go 

1'^ J. R. Green, History of the English People, Vol. II, pp. 
128, 129. After "Henry VIII at last permitted the English Bible 
to be published," says Taine, "everyone who could buy this book 
either read it assiduously, or had it read to him by others, and 
many v/ell advanced in years learned to read with the same 
object. On Sunday the poor folk gathered at the bottom of the 
churches to hear it read. Maldon, a young man, afterwards 
related that he had clubbed his earnings with an apprentice to 
buy a New Testament, and that for fear of his father, they had 
hidden it in their straw mattress." Again he says: "Try to pic- 
ture these yeomen, these shopkeepers, who in the evening placed 
this Bible on their table, and bareheaded, with veneration, heard 
or read one of its chapters. Think that they have no other books, 
that theirs was a virgin mind, that every impression would make 
a furrow, that the monotony of mechanical existence rendered 
them open to new emotions, that they opened this book, not for 
amusement, but to discover in it their doom of life and death." 
- — History of English Literature, Vol. II, pp. i66, i68. 

18 " 'With six and thirty abbotts, mitred priors, and bishops, 
and he in his whole pomp mitred,' the Cardinal [Wolsey] looked 
on while 'great baskets full of books .... were commanded after 
the great fire was made before the Rood of Northen,' the crucifix 
by the great door of the cathedral, 'thus to be burned, and those 
heretics to go thrice about the fire and to cast in their fagots.' " 
— ^J. R. Green, History of the English People, Vol. II, p. 128. 



36 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

on with his revision and printing of the New 
Testament. Later, when the Great Bible was 
pubHshed, and copies v/ere set up in the churches, 
six being in St. Paul's, Bishop Bonner com- 
plained because the people gathered about these 
to hear the Scriptures read, in preference to lis- 
tening to his sermons. Even as late as the Coun- 
cil of Trent ( 1 545-63 ) it was decreed that who- 
ever should presume to read or to have a Bible 
without permission might not receive absolution 
until he should surrender the book. 

Doubtless this general attitude of hostility on 
the part of both the ecclesiastical and the civil 
authorities was due to several causes — to intel- 
lectual and moral inertia, to the instinct of self- 
preservation inhering in institutions as well as 
in individuals, to the wholesome conservatism 
which desires to "hold fast that which is good," 
and also to that distrust of the people and that 
dread of liberalism which have so often stood in 
the way of human progress. It was the age of 
the Inquisition ; it was the age, too, of the world's 
travail in the birth of the modern spirit, which 
was "set for the rise and fall of many." In- 
stinctively the reigning powers in Church and 
State felt the tendency of events, and shrank 
from consequences which were fraught with even 
greater danger to themselves than they were 
aware. Yet their antagonism proved futile, 
truth and right prevailed, and the Word of the 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 37 

Lord found free course to run and be glorified.^ ^ 
The great influence of the Authorized Version 
among Enghsh-speaking people, fitly paralleling 
that of Luther's translation among the Germans, 
has been marked from the beginning. Its superi- 
ority to previous English renderings was quickly 
recognized, and its literary merits have never 
failed of appreciation. "It is the finest specimen 

1^ The historic situation is vividly portrayed by Mr. James 
Anthony Froude, who says: "The Christian religion as taught 
and practised in Western Europe consisted of the Mass and the 
Confessional, of elaborate ceremonials, rituals, processions, pil- 
grimages, prayers to the Virgin and the saints, with dispensations 
and indulgences for laws broken or duties left undone. Of the 
Gospels and Epistles so much only was known to the laity as 
was read in the Church services, and that intoned as if to be 
purposely unintelligible to the understanding. Of the rest of the 
Bible nothing was known at all, because nothing was supposed 
to be necessary, and lectures like Colet's at Oxford were con- 
sidered superfluous and dangerous. Copies of the Scriptures 
were rare, shut up in convent libraries, and studied only by 
professional theologians; while conventional interpretations were 
attached to the text which corrupted or distorted its meaning. 
Erasmus had undertaken to give the book to the whole world 
to read for itself — the original Greek of the Epistles and Gospels, 
with a new Latin translation — to wake up the intelligence, to 
show that the words had a real sense, and were not mere 
sounds like the dronings of a barrel-organ. 

"It was finished at last, text and translation printed, and 
the living facts of Christianity, the persons of Christ and the 
Apostles, their history, their lives, their teaching were revealed 
to an astonished world. For the first time the laity were able 
to see, side by side, the Christianity which converted the world, 
and the Christianity of the Church with a Borgia pope, cardinal 
princes, ecclesiastical courts, and a mythology of lies. The 
effect was to be a spiritual earthquake. 

"Erasmus had edited the Greek New Testament and made 
a fresh translation. Luther, in the Castle of Wartburg, was trans- 
lating it into vernacular German, with the Old Testament to fol- 
low. Together, these two men had made accessible the rock, stronger 
than the rock of Peter, on which the faith of mankind was to be 
rebuilt." — Life and Letters of Erasmus, pp. 119, 120, 299. 



38 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

of our prose literature at a time when English 
prose wore its stateliest and most majestic form," 
says Mr. Frederick G. Kenyon. Doubtless few 
good judges would dissent from this opinion. 
The English language reached a very high stage 
of development in the half-century immediately 
preceding the appearance of this version, for it 
was the age of Shakespeare and Bacon, of Lati- 
mer, Spenser, and Raleigh, and it is easy tO' see 
how admirably it uses the language, and how 
worthily the language fits the exalted and serious 
thoughts of the Scriptures.^^ *'No master of 
style," says Mr. Kenyon further, "has been blind 
to its charms; and those who have recommended 
its study most strongly have often been those 
who, like Carlyle and Matthew Arnold, were not 
prepared to accept its teaching to the full." ^^ 
Coleridge and Ruskin have acknowledged the 
surpassing beauty and power of this splendid 
production, even from a purely literary point of 
view; and we shall not be amiss if we regard it 
as our greatest English classic, and therefore 
claim for it a place in the education of all who 
would understand either the course oi English 
history or the growth of English literature. 

The Authorized Version is said to be "trans- 
lated out of the original tongues; and with the 
former translations diligently compared and re- 

20 See Taine's History of English Literature, Vol. II, pp. 169 f. 

21 Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, p. 233. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 39 

vised.'* What does this mean? That the Old 
Testament was rendered from the Hebrew, and 
the New Testament from the Greek. But what 
manuscript or manuscripts did the translators 
have before them; the very first made, those 
written by the biblical authors themselves? 
Manifestly not; for those originals had perished 
long before, and only copies of copies remained. 
These copies were all of quite late dates, they 
differed more or less from one another, some of 
them therefore were inaccurate to a considerable 
degree, and the best thing the translators could 
do was to compare the various copies closely and 
use their critical judgment in deciding which 
reading to follow in any given case. This they 
did, and the result was a remarkable achieve- 
ment of conscientious labor; but they could not 
produce a perfect translation of the original 
words of the original biblical writings, simply 
because they had no perfect manuscript copy. 
Perhaps there can never be an absolutely perfect 
copy, but a great improvement in this matter has 
taken place since the Authorized Version was 
published. 

It can be readily seen that the oldest copies 
of the Bible, or of any portions of it, must be 
the most reliable because nearest to the original. 
For a serious disadvantage of the hand-copying 
method of transmitting and diffusing any writ- 
ings — and, as has been shown, such was the 



40 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

only method during nearly fifteen centuries of 
Christian history — was ithe inevitable and in- 
creasing corruption of the text, resulting from 
sheer human fallibility. Hence, as a rule, the 
later manuscripts of the Bible are inferior to 
the earlier, especially before the dawn of modem 
critical scholarship, beginning with Erasmus. 
Now, some of the very oldest and most impor- 
tant biblical manuscripts have been found within 
the last two centuries, a few of them, indeed, 
within the last half-century. At present we have 
four very ancient MSS of the New Testament, 
two of which — Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sin- 
aiticus — date from the fourth century, and the 
other two — Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Eph- 
raemi — from the fifth. Of these four priceless 
documents the first named is in the Vatican Li- 
brary at Rome, the second in the Imperial Li- 
brary at St. Petersburg, the third in the British 
Museum at London, and the other in the Na- 
tional Library at Paris. Each of these has an 
interesting history, and not a little of thrilling 
romance is connected with at least one of them 
— Codex Sinaiticus. 

This manuscript was discovered by Dr. Con- 
stantine Tischendorf in the monastery of St. 
Catherine at Mount Sinai upon his third visit 
there in 1859. At his first visit, in 1844, he had 
accidentally found some pages of the Old Tes- 
tament which were about to be cast into the fire, 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 41 

and had quite easily obtained permission to keep 
them. His second visit, in 1853, was fruitless; 
but returning, six years later, under the patron- 
age of the Czar, he was received with more favor 
by the monks, and was rewarded at last by dis- 
covering and obtaining a complete copy of the 
New Testament, on vellum made from the finest 
skins of antelopes, and in a large, clear hand- 
writing. He brought it home with joy and pub- 
lished it for the benefit of all biblical scholars, 
and it has since reposed securely in the archives 
of Russia's Imperial Library. Dr. Tischendorf 
assigned it to the middle of the fourth century. 

One of the other manuscripts mentioned — 
Codex Vaticanus — is generally considered older, 
and therefore the very oldest known to exist; 
but it likewise dates from the fourth century. 
It has been in its present home, the Vatican Li- 
brary, since about 1450. After being jealously 
guarded, and shown with great reluctance even 
to the foremost scholars, it was published in a 
complete photographic facsimile in 1889-90, by 
permission of Pope Leo XIII, in connection with 
the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his 
elevation to the priesthood. 

Because of all the discoveries subsequent to 
the date of the Authorized Version, and because 
of the patient labors of many scholars to im- 
prove the text of both Testaments, it was felt, 
a generation or more ago, that the time had 



42 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

come for another revision of the Bible. As early 
as 1856 the subject was broached, but not until 
1870 was definite action taken. In that year a 
committee of English churchmen, soliciting the 
co-operation of scholars from other religious 
bodies and from America, undertook the work 
of producing a Revised Version. Two companies 
were formed. The one for the New Testa- 
ment occupied ten and a half years, sitting about 
forty days a year; that for the Old Testament 
fourteen years, sitting about fifty-six days a year. 
In 1 87 1 two corresponding companies of Ameri- 
can scholars joined in the task. The Revised 
New Testament was published May 17, 1881; 
the entire Bible, May 19, 1885.22 

The principal merit of this revision is its 
greater accuracy. Not only is it rendered from 
an improved text, but it is more correctly trans- 
lated than any former version. It has contrib- 
uted much to a truer general understanding of 
the Bible, not merely in its literary aspects, but 
even more in its teachings. For example, it 
presents the subject-matter in proper paragraphs, 
instead of in single verses, and thereby conveys 
to the reader some sense of wholeness in his con- 
ception of any given passage or book; it prints 
such works as Job, the Psalms, and Proverbs in 
a form to indicate their character as poetry; it 

22 For more detailed and complete information, see the pref- 
aces to both Testaments, particularly the New, in the Revised Ver- 
sion; also the Cambridge Companion^ p. 87. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 43 

likewise indicates the quotations in the New Tes- 
tament from the Old; its marginal readings 
throw light on the text; and its more truthful 
rendering of the originals formerly translated 
"hell," "devil," "everlasting," "damnation," etc, 
dispels not a few gross errors. The educative 
value of these changes marks them as a notewor- 
thy improvement, alone justifying the work as a 
whole. We may expect it to win its way among 
those who care more for correctness than for 
euphony in reading the Scriptures — who believe, 
indeed, that the meaning of Holy Writ is too 
important to be concealed or misinterpreted for 
the sake of a smooth and pleasant rendering. 
The message which the Bible has for us is the 
message which its authors really delivered; and 
it is the effort to get at that actual, original mes- 
sage w^hich is at once the inspiration and the 
glory of modern biblical scholarship. 

When the Revised Version was published in 
1881-85, there were numerous instances in which 
different translations from those that were 
adopted were preferred by the American Revi- 
sion Committee. Inasmuch as the English schol- 
ars had taken the initiative, it was agreed that 
they should have the decisive vote in all cases 
involving diverse opinions; but, on the other 
hand, it was also agreed that the American pref- 
erences should be published in an Appendix to 
the Revised Version for a term of fourteen years, 



44 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

and that during this period the revised Bible as 
thus issued by the University Presses of Oxford 
and Cambridge should receive the cordial sup- 
port of the whole body of Revisers. The Amer- 
ican committee thereupon decided to continue 
its organization, with a view to the ultimate prep- 
aration O'f still another revision which should 
embody the preferences of the American schol- 
ars, together with certain other desired improve- 
ments. This purpose has been at length fully 
carried out in the publication, in 1901, by Messrs. 
Thomas Nelson & Sons, of the American Stand- 
ard Edition of the Revised Version, 

There are many respects in which this Amer- 
ican Standard Edition is superior, not only to the 
English Revision, but tO' all previous versions in 
our language.^ -^ Not merely has it incorporated 
the readings published in the Appendix, as above 
stated, but that Appendix itself has been carefully 
revised. It has adopted the term "Jehovah'^ 
for "Lord" and, in many instancesi "God," 
thereby distinctly conveying the important historic 
fact that Jehovah was peculiarly Israel's God. It 
has changed the paragraphing of the English Re- 
vision slightly and for the better, and has fur- 
nished subject-headings at the top of the page 
which are not only convenient guides in reading, 
but are also more correct than those of the Au- 

23 For full particulars and much valuable information the 
reader should consult the prefaces to both Testaments of the 
American Revision. 



HISTORY OF THE BIBLE 45 

thorized Version; and in the form of footnotes 
it gives alternate renderings of words, phrases, 
or sentences, or anglicized equivalents of the ori- 
ginals, which afford instruction as to various 
plausible or possible shades of meaning. Inac- 
curate translations are corrected, as in I Tim. vi. 
lo, or Acts xvii. 22; obsolete words are dis- 
continued, and modern expressions employed; 
the term "Holy Spirit" is substituted for ''Holy 
Ghost;" and copious marginal references are sup- 
plied in the larger editions. These and other 
features make the American Standard Revision 
undoubtedly the most nearly perfect version of 
the Scriptures ever produced in the English 
tongue. 

Still other translations of the Bible, in whole 
or in part, have appeared of late, but they can be 
barely mentioned here. The Polychrome Bible, 
for the studious classes, is the most important 
of these ; while The Tzventieth Century New Tes- 
tament, rendered into the language of today, 
makes its pages wonderfully vivid and interesting 
to the ordinary reader. Besides, there are in- 
structive paraphrases of portions of the Scrip- 
tures entitled Messages of the Bible, prepared by 
Professors Kent and Sanders; and there is Pro- 
fessor Richard G. Moulton's Modern Reader's 
Bible, which, using the Revised Version of 1881- 
85, casts the material in a most attractive liter- 
ary and typographical form, issued in small vol- 



46 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

umes, with introductory and explanatory notes. 
Nor should omission be made of The Temple 
Bible, in style corresponding to the ^'Temple Edi- 
tion" of Shakespeare, issued by the same pub- 
lishers, Messrs. J. M. Dent and Company, and 
using the text of the King James Version. An- 
other admirable edition is The New-Century 
Bible, edited by Professor W. F. Adeny, and 
published likewise in small volumes. This work 
employs both the King James translation and the 
English Revision, and is furnished with copious 
footnotes and instructive introductions embody- 
ing modern information respecting the various 
biblical books. Together these many editions 
have brought to a high state of perfection and 
usefulness the great work of translating the 
Holy Scriptures into the English language. Thus 
the present age is linked with the ages of the 
past by the golden chain of the history of the 
Bible. 



CHAPTER II 

THE TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 

The previous chapter presented some of the 
main facts in the story of the way in which we 
came by our Enghsh Bible. We have now to 
look at the estimation in which it has been held 
since about the time of the making of the Author- 
ized Version, 1611 A. D. It will be necessary to 
state the popular view, to point out its sources, 
to show its practical bearings, and to pass judg- 
ment upon it, before we can appreciate the bet- 
ter conception that will be developed out of our 
studies as we proceed. 

The customary phrase in which the majority 
of Christians speak of the Bible is, "the Word 
of God." While there are, perhaps, few persons 
so densely ignorant as to suppose that the Al- 
mighty literally wrote the Sacred Volume and 
let it down out of heaven into this world, there 
are thousands whose ideas of its origin are not 
far removed from such a crude notion. For 
they consider that, even if God did not actually 
dictate the entire contents of the Bible to its writ- 
ers, who simply acted as amanuenses to record 
what they were bidden, he at least soi fully and 
infallibly inspired and controlled the writers that 
they were mere tools, instruments, writing-ma- 
chines, in his hand. Accordingly every book, 

47 



48 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

chapter, paragraph, verse, sentence, clause, 
phrase, and word are the direct gift of God to 
the children of men, and the whole Bible is the 
veritable Word of God, all portions of it are of 
equal value and authority, and whoever denies 
any single part of it virtually denies it entirely, 
while whoever accepts any part of it is under 
obligation to accept it all. This is that doctrine 
of the so-called "plenary" (i. e., full) inspiration 
and absolute infallibility of the Scriptures which 
regards them not merely as containing, but as 
being, a message from God to man, which is 
wholly free from error, whether of historical, 
scientific, or moral character. 

Such, in brief, is the general conception of 
the Bible that has prevailed among most Prot- 
estants during the last three hundred years, 
scarcely yielding to even the slightest modifica- 
tions until within the last half-century. It has 
dominated the theology of nearly all the so- 
called evangelical churches; it has characterized 
the revival efforts which they have so often put 
forth; it has been instilled into the minds of the 
children who have grown up in them; and "for 
substance of doctrine" it still lingers in the belief 
of the great majority of their communicants, 
especially the less educated among them. The 
late Dwight L. Moody was wont to declare his 
acceptance of the Bible as ^'the Word of God from 
back to back;" and in 1895 he urged Sunday- 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 49 

school teachers to "believe the Bible, the whole 
Bible, with every fiber of the body.'' No doubt 
such a muscular faith was useful in moving the 
multitudes that Mr. Moody was accustomed to 
gather, and he was unquestionably sincere in his 
convictions; yet it is not difficult to see that it 
was his Christian devotion and rich spiritual ex- 
perience rather than his idea of the Bible that 
really made him the noble evangelist he was. He 
might have been equally devoted and successful 
with a very different conception of the Bible, so 
far as its formal origin was concerned. If, 
however, Mr. Moody and his faith and his mul- 
titudes may be considered fairly representative 
of modern orthodox Protestantism, I am jus- 
tified in saying that the view I have stated, al- 
though being now abandoned or qualified by 
progressive preachers and many enlightened lay- 
micn in the great communions included in that 
designation, is still the prevalent and dominant 
view in the rank and file of their constituency. 
In support of this judgment I may cite the dis- 
position of the case of Professor Charles A. 
Briggs, resulting in his suspension from the 
Presbyterian ministry because he taught, among 
other things no worse, the probable "errancy" 
of the "original autographs" of Holy Scripture, 
supposing they could ever be recovered ; and also 
the opposition which manifested itself, briefly but 
sharply, to his ordination in the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church. 



50 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Not pausing here to describe the grotesque 
features of this conception or the absurd lengths 
to which it has sometimes been carried, and only 
remarking that it is substantially inwrought, like 
a pattern, into the warp and woof of nearly all 
our popular religious thought and work — by 
which I mean the hymns, the liturgies, the Sun- 
day-school instruction, and the every-day reli- 
gious conversation of the masses of Protestant 
Christians — let me pass to inquire how it arose 
and gained such supremacy. 

There have been three principal sources of 
this traditional view. 

I. Historically it antedates Christianity. As 
regards the Old Testament, the mechanical the- 
ory of inspiration and revelation prevailed among 
the Jews during the last two or three centuries 
before Christ; and it was naturally carried over 
into the Christian era, and attached itself to the 
New Testament writings in the gradual process 
of their canonization.^ In fact, similar ideas re- 
specting the divine source of written and spoken 
oracles were familiar to the gentile mind. Yet 
it was not until after the great rupture known as 
the Protestant Reformation that the general no- 
tion here considered assumed its rigid modern 
form; and then it resulted partly from the exi- 
gencies of the period and partly from the lack of 

1 See Professor E. C. Moore> The Nsw Testament in the Chris- 
tian Church, p. 6; also G. P. Fisher, History of Christian Doc- 
trine, p. 75; also Hernack, History of Dogma, Vol. II, pp. 57 f. 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 51 

learning among the people. Previous to that 
time all Christians in western Europe had been 
taught to regard the Catholic church, with its 
head at Rome, as the infallible authority and 
final court of appeal in matters of faith and 
morals; and when the Protestants broke with 
that authority and court, it soon became neces- 
sary to have another, in order to determine de- 
batable questions. This they at length came to 
find in the Bible. To the Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testaments, they would appeal, and not 
to any ecclesiastical organization or power, as 
the supreme tribunal to settle all disputed points 
of religious teaching; and hence the right of 
every man to read and interpret the Bible for 
himself, without dictation from church or clergy, 
became the great boon which the Reformation 
conferred upon the liberated portion of the Chris- 
tian community then and thenceforward. This 
right, the right of private judgment in matters of 
faith and morals, is the very gist of Protestant- 
ism, lies at the basis of modern civil liberty, and 
is the one radical, vital, and permanent opponent 
of Roman Catholicism. 

But, at the time of which I am speaking, the 
masses of the people, and to a great extent the 
ministers of religion, and even many of the uni- 
versity teachers, were poorly prepared, because 
of deficient scholarship, to understand the Bible 
correctly and to use it properly. To be sure, 



52 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

learning was reviving and making rapid prog- 
ress ; but the process had not gone far enough to 
reach more than comparatively a few of the lead- 
ers of thought. The Scriptures had not been in 
general circulation, chiefly perhaps because the 
art of printing had not been fully developed 
yet, and the Latin Vulgate was the only transla- 
tion that may be said to have been widely known. 
Even this could not be compared with the ori- 
ginal until Erasmus published (1516) his Greek 
Testament, and Cardinal Ximenes, a Spanish 
scholar, issued (1514-17) his Hebrew, Greek, 
and Latin versions in the four volumes known 
as the "Complutensian Polyglot;" for the study 
of the Greek and Hebrew languages had not re- 
vived sufficiently to enable any except a very 
few to read the Bible in the original, and among 
even the best educated only a little was known 
about the text and the various ancient manu- 
scripts. Besides, there was hardly any physical 
science worthy of the name ; philosophy was fan- 
ciful, airy, eccentric, and arbitrary; and the gen- 
eral history of antiquity, of Greece, Egypt, Per- 
sia, and Assyria, was practically a sealed book 
because the people were but slightly acquainted 
with any ancient language except the Latin. 
Under all these circumstances it is not strange 
that such a beHef respecting the Scriptures as 
has been alluded to above should have been re- 
vived, impressed upon the popular mind, and 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 53 

transmitted down to us. Yet it must not be for- 
gotten that it took on its extreme shape and in- 
flexibility in the post-Reformation period; for 
Luther, Calvin, and the English Reformers were 
more liberal concerning this subject than their 
successors of a generation or two later; and it 
was not until about the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century that bibliolatry, the undue, un- 
natural, false exaltation of the Bible, crystallized 
into the dogma of its plenary inspiration and 
absolute infallibility that has held such wide and 
powerful sway ever since. 

2. Another source of the view referred to is 
the idea that the Bible is a divine revelation. In 
a general way this idea antedates the history 
which I have just sketched, and therefore helped 
to shape it; and, on the other hand, it has been 
promoted and inculcated by that history. It is 
an easy thing to say that the Bible is a divine 
revelation, just as it is an easy thing to say that 
the pope of Rome is the vicar of Christ; and 
because the multitudes of people do not think 
deeply or discriminatingly, especially concerning 
those interests that are called supernatural, it is 
easy, when such an idea or claim is put forth 
and accompanied by real and great merits, to 
get it popularly accepted. One may almost say 
that there exists among the masses of mankind 
an insatiable appetite for striking evidences of 
supernatural power; so that whoever comes for- 



54 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ward making stupendous pretensions, with any 
sort of show to support them, will find a host of 
followers; indeed, it sometimes seems as if he 
who can make the biggest claim, and can fur- 
nish forth the most imposing array of spectac- 
ular adjuncts, is sure of the largest crowds of 
adherents. In proof of this, witness the actual 
deification of the Roman emperor two thousand 
years ago; the all but universal belief of the alli- 
ance of exceptional men with heaven ; the idealiz- 
ing and idolizing of national heroes ; the throngs 
that gather about every truly great leader; the 
eager looking for signs and wonders, for mir- 
acles and marvels, on the part of all such; the 
readiness to swallow everything they say; and 
the remarkable eclat with which gorgeous dis- 
plays of power and glory, whether civil, mili- 
tary, or religious, are everywhere received. This 
is an evidence, not that they love fictitious values, 
although a cynic might say they do, but rather 
that they are blindly seeking real values; and 
thus it is a pathetic testimony to the natural 
trustfulness of the human heart, and to the need 
of the light of knowledge for its guidance. 

Now, when people have come, through what- 
soever influences, to believe thoroughly in any 
set of writings as a divine revelation, they im- 
mediately begin to idolize them and think to 
exalt them by regarding them as free from 
error. In this way those who have called the 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 55 

Bible a divine revelation have gone so far as to 
say that there are no mistakes or blemishes in 
it of any sort, whether relating to fact, to qual- 
ity of teaching, or to style of composition, or 
even to transmission; indeed, they do not see 
how there can be any such if it is really the *'Word 
of God" — it must be absolutely faultless and in- 
fallible. Hence they cannot allow any correc- 
tion of its subject-matter, or even any alteration 
of its grammatical form. "It is impious and pro- 
fane audacity," said Calovius, ''to change a sin- 
gle point in the Word of God, and to substitute 
a smooth breathing for a rough one, or a rough 
for a smooth." Indeed, when it was found out, 
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, that 
the Hebrew Scriptures were originally written in 
consonants alone, and the vowels were added 
by the Masoretes in the seventh or eighth cen- 
tury, a great outcry was made against this heret- 
ical fact as subversive of the very foundations 
of Christianity, and it took a hundred years to 
get it fairly recognized. People positively be- 
lieved that those vowel points were given by 
divine inspiration; and thus the idea of a revela- 
tion from God, which they attached to the Bible, 
carried them to unreasonable extremes of preju- 
dice. So long as men continue to hold this bald 
idea, in this form of statement, without modifica- 
tion, they will retain the notion of the Bible's 
uniformity and infallibility. When they shall 



56 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

learn to be content to say simply that the Scrip- 
tures "contain God's true Word," or "contain a 
revelation of the character of God," etc., as cer- 
tain Christian bodies have already done, they 
will have held fast to all that is essential, and 
will have made an immense advance toward in- 
tellectual and spiritual liberty, and toward a 
larger and deeper religious faith. 

3. A third source of the view I have de- 
scribed lies in the natural veneration and affec- 
tions of mankind. There is really so much that is 
great and good in the Bible, and does help so 
powerfully and blessedly the hungry soul that re- 
sorts to it for the bread of life, that it soon be- 
comes very dear and sacred to the hearts of all 
such. They take it for *'the man of their coun- 
sel;" (over it they pour out their prayers of 
thanksgiving and supplication, of contrition and 
bereavement, of peace and joy; upon its pages 
fall their tears like rain, as they bend above it in 
the trying hours of life; into the hands of dear 
friends they place it, as they go away out into a 
cold and sinful world; and from its treasure- 
house of wisdom, consolation, and sweet beauty, 
they cull sentences or phrases to send like flowers 
to absent ones who gather before the marriage 
altar, or around the funeral bier, or at the do- 
mestic fireside; nor does it fail to enrich and 
sanctify them in all these holy uses. It furnishes 
the language for the most impressive ceremonies 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 57 

of public and private occasions throughout 
Christendom; its words are the carrier-pigeons 
that bear our petitions and our anthems of praise 
heavenward in our services of stated worship ; its 
truths give us our texts for our sermons, and its 
pregnant utterances drive home into the depths 
of our souls the lessons of righteousness which 
we so much need to learn. No other book in all 
the world is so full of power, sublimity, and 
spirituality; no other ever came out of such 
depths of moral and religious experience ; and no 
other can reach, in such varied and effective 
ways, the manifold needs of the human heart. 
Therefore those who know somewhat of its sur- 
passing merits, who have learned by experience 
to understand and appreciate its ability to help 
them, cannot but hold it dear and sacred. It be- 
comes enshrined in their affections, and while 
they thank God for so precious a gift, they be- 
seech him to guard and bless its holy mission 
among all the children of men. 

Now this veneration of the Bible, which in it- 
self is appropriate, beautifulj and profitable, and 
which no man should wantonly weaken, serves 
to confirm, establish, and perpetuate a false in- 
tellectual view of it, if such a view be prevalent 
and if there be but little enlightenment. If a per- 
son who has not been educated to think broadly 
and discriminatingly — and it is a bane of sectari- 
anism that it often educates people in just the 



58 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Opposite way — conceives of the Bible as a divine 
revelation, which is all of one piece, fully in- 
spired and wholly infallible, and then comes to 
attach himself to it through his moral and spir- 
itual affections, in some such manner as I have 
indicated, he is almost sure either to cling to the 
dogma in all its rigidity, and so dwarf his intel- 
lect, or to shock his faith and disturb his peace 
in attempting to gain a more rational concep- 
tion of the nature, structure, and true worth of 
the Scriptures. More likely it will be the former 
of these processes that he will go through. For 
he cannot bear to hear anything said against the 
Bible, and he construes everything that does not 
support his view as being thus said, and he will 
not listen to it. So he intrenches and fortifies 
himself in his ignorance, shuts the light oi addi- 
tional truth out of his mind and vainly imagines he 
is loyally defending the holy things oi Gk)d, while 
others are proving themselves apostates, who are 
seeing higher, larger, clearer, grander things in 
the good old Book that is as dear to them as to 
him. To such a one we must say, as best we 
can, that the spiritual quality of a writing, no 
matter what that writing may be, in nowise de- 
termines the date and authorship of other miscel- 
laneous writings which are bound up with it, and 
may not go far in determining even its own date 
and authorship. The fact that so many of the 
Psalms help you by voicing the deeper thoughts 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 59 

and feelings of the soul, in exalted and beautiful 
language, does not decide whether David or 
somebody else wrote them; that is a question 
which other lines of evidence must settle. A 
true poem is a poem, even though it be utterly 
fugitive, so that no man can tell when it was 
written or by whom. So it is with the books of 
the Bible; they are good and helpful, and we are 
all justified in venerating and loving them; but 
our affection for them cannot pronounce as to 
their historic veracity, and certainly cannot prove 
them to be of miraculous origin. 

Such are some of the main sources of the 
traditional view of the Bible — the peculiar con- 
ditions of the post-Reformation period, the in- 
fluence of the idea of a divine revelation, and the 
strength of the natural sentiments of veneration 
and affection. 

Now what shall be said of this view ? A can- 
did student must admit that it has served some 
good purposes. It has undoubtedly secured a 
degree of attention to the Bible which no other 
view could have obtained for it in the age and 
stage of culture in which it has prevailed. A 
more advanced conception could not be appre- 
ciated until a larger knowledge of many things 
— especially of history, ethnology, comparative 
language and religion, as well as the develop- 
ment of theology and ecclesiastical institutions — 
had prepared the way for it. If, therefore, this 



6o NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

view had not existed, the Bible would probably 
have been neglected, and the mighty moral and 
religious energy which it has imparted to our 
western civilization would have been sadly want- 
ing. It is much to say for any idea or social 
custom that it has served its own time even fairly 
well ; it is from this standpoint alone that we can 
judge justly of men and measures, of doctrines 
and institutions; and, thus regarded, we must 
concede that the traditional view of the Bible has 
been natural, or at least inevitable, and has con- 
tributed not a little to produce the very condi- 
tions under which it is now being outgrown. 

Nevertheless, considered with reference to the 
present age, it has been, or is now, an unfortu- 
nate view; it has been narrow, and therefore 
cramping to the human mind; it has been rigid, 
and therefore has allowed little room for prog- 
ress on the part of those holding it — so much so, 
indeed, that nearly all progress under it has had 
to bear the stigma of heresy ; it has begotten bib- 
liolatry, and therefore has made the Bible a 
fetich; it has fixed the attention of men upon 
the letter of Scripture, and therefore has shut 
out the influence of the spirit ; and by putting the 
human soul in bondage to a thing, it has kept it 
from the free service of the one living and true 
God. 

It may be well to supplement this general 
criticism with some specifications as to the bad 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 6i 

effects which the view here rejected has pro- 
duced. 

I. It has been an obstacle to the advance of 
learning. Not to go back farther than the mem- 
ory of living men reaches, it is known to all in- 
telligent people that the teachings of modern 
geology have been opposed, and their promulga- 
tion resisted, because of their conflict with the 
account of creation given in the first chapter of 
Genesis — and how ludicrous have been the at- 
tempts toi harmonize them with that account! — 
that for the same reason the theory of evolution, 
now accepted in some form by nearly all scien- 
tists, has been scouted, and its adherents put 
under ban, even to the extent of having their 
professional positions disturbed, if not forcibly 
taken from them; and that the science of histor- 
ical and literary criticism, of which biblical 
criticism is a branch, has been reproached and ridi- 
culed, and some of its disciples likewise driven 
from their honored places, because the results 
reached by such study have not harmonized with 
the traditional conception of Scripture. All these 
things have occurred under our own eyes, and 
some of them are still occurring in these opening 
years of the twentieth century. Yet it is nothing 
new under the sun; for, fifteen hundred years 
ago, St. Jerome had to meet much the same sort 
of opposition; so did Columbus, Galileo, and 
Copernicus, and a host of other seekers after 



62 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

truth. It is simply a phase of human ignorance 
and bigotry, but it is a sorry spectacle.^ 

2. It has sanctioned, supported, and perpet- 
uated erroneous ideas and evil practices. Take, 
for instance, the doctrine of the second coming 
of Christ and the end of the world ; how strangely 
persistent this has been, and what fantastic forms 
it has assumed! yet it would have died out long 
ago but for this wrong view of the Bible. The 
same is true of the doctrine of endless punish- 
ment. Or take slavery, capital punishment, and 
the subjection of woman — all relics of paganism; 
how long have these hoary evils been buttressed 
by quotations from Scripture, that never would 
have been used thus except for such an extreme 
notion about its divine authority as I have com- 
bated! In recent years the great Methodist 
Episcopal Church has been struggling over 
the question of the ordination of women to 
the ministry, which is strongly opposed be- 
cause Paul said to Timothy: "I suffer not a 
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the 
man, but to be in silence." ^ Even the liquor- 
dealers have not scrupled to quote the words of 
the same noble apostle, since they happened to 
find out that he said to the same young man: 



2 The reader who cares to look farther into this subject may 
consult with much profit Dr. Andrew D. White's Warfare of 
Science zvith Christian Theology, 2 vols. 

3 I Tim. ii. 12. 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 63 

"Drink no longer water, but take a little wine 
for thy stomach's sake." * 

3. This traditional view involves such bond- 
age to the letter as to prevent spiritual growth. 
Paul said that "the letter killeth, but the spirit 
giveth life." When a religion begins to die, it 
begins to get hard and dry, like a tree that is 
going through the same process. Or, like an old 
Egyptian king, who, knowing his end was near, 
began to build a mausoleum to receive his re- 
mains ; a religion that is already moribund begins 
straightway to make its casket and hew out 
its tomb, begins to encase itself in some outward 
shell O'f rite, or dogma, or institution, or sacred 
book. For proof, read the history of religion in 
India, in Judea, in imperial Rome, in mediaeval 
Europe. 

4. Still another fault chargeable to this view 
is that it disregards all progress of ideas in the 
Bible, and obliterates all distinctions between 
good and bad in the quality of its various writ- 
ings. By teaching that it is all of one piece, and 
all 'the Word of God, it leaves no room for 
thinking that the ideas set forth in Genesis may 
not be so exalted or true as those contained in 
Isaiah or the Sermon on the Mount ; and it like- 
wise forbids us to suppose that the moral pre- 
cepts of the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes may not in 
some instances be just as noble and pure as the 

* Ibid., V. 23. 



64 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ethics of Jesus or Paul or John. But, as a mat- 
ter of fact, there are wide differences in these re- 
spects, both intellectually and morally; there is 
a progress in thought from the days of the old 
Hebrew patriarchs to those of the later proph- 
ets, and there is an advance in moral standards 
from the time of Solomon to that of Christ. 
Now what can be more important than to teach 
ourselves and our children to see these distinc- 
tions, between high and low, between good and 
bad, between true and false, between right and 
wrong, wherever they really exist, in human life, 
in literature, in art, in philosophy? Is not this 
the main object of all our teaching, to see and 
choose and love the true, the beautiful, and the 
good, as distinguished from their opposites? But 
the traditional conception of the Bible tends to 
blunt our sensibilities in this respect; and we 
jumble together the notions and maxims of old 
shepherd-kings and warriors with the sweet 
spiritual visions and principles of the blessed 
Christ, and call them all, indiscriminately, the 
Word of God ! Then we teach them to our chil- 
dren, as all of equal value and authority; and 
can we wonder that the children are confused, 
unenlightened, unawakened, untouched ? 

5. Such a view of the Bible opens the way for 
all the vagaries and falsehoods of an irrespon- 
sible exegesis. It makes the Book an arsenal of 
proof-texts, by the dexterous employment of 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 65 

which almost any conceivable doctrine can be 
supported. By picking out a verse or sentence 
from one part of the Bible, and other verses or 
sentences from other parts, and then skilfully 
piecing them together, without any reference to 
their contexts or their historical origin and the 
real meaning of their authors, one can prove the 
most baseless and pernicious of theories. Then 
when the imagination is given free reins, and 
the allegorizing method of interpretation is car- 
ried to extremes, as was the case in the later cen- 
turies of Judaism and the early centuries of 
Christianity, and even among the Greeks,^ ut- 
terly fantastic results ensue. For example, 
"when we are told that Rebecca comes to draw 
water at the well and so meets the servant of 
Abraham, the meaning is, according to Origen, 
that we must daily come to the wells of Scripture 
in order to meet with Christ." ^ Another, "com- 
menting on Genesis 15:9, explains 'the calf, the 
goat, and the ram of three years' in Abraham's 
sacrifices to mean his soul, his sentient faculty, 
and his mind." '^ Innumerable instances of a 
similar character might be cited to show how 
this general idea of Scripture and these arbi- 
trary methods of interpretation, misleading even 
so great a teacher as the illustrious Origen, have 

^ Consult with great profit Farrar's History of Interpretation 
(Appleton, 1886), Lectures ii, iii, and iv. 

® Ibid., p. 199. 

"^ Ibid., p. 201. 



66 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

begotten among lesser minds a narrow dogma- 
tism that has engendered harsh, bitter, disastrous 
controversies. 

6. Finally, such a view breaks down at length 
from its own weight. When you claim that the 
Bible is a divine revelation throughout, fully in- 
spired and infallible, you make a stupendous 
claim. In logic it is extremely difficult to prove 
a universal negative; but this is exactly what is 
undertaken when one contends that the Bible 
is absolutely without error. Presently the dis- 
covery is made that errors are actually to be 
found within its pages — mistakes, discrepancies, 
imperfections which simply cannot be reconciled 
with this theory: what happens? A distinct 
shock to faith and morals is immediately felt, 
from which, alas! many do not recover. The 
Bible seems no longer of any worth, on the very 
basis upon which it has stood; for it has been 
said to be all of one piece, and if false in one par- 
ticular, is false in all others. This is precisely 
what has frequently occurred in recent years; 
men have thrown the Bible and the church and 
religion to the winds, sometimes along with 
moral restraints, because they had been taught 
that the Bible was an infallible revelation of 
divine truth, not only in its spirit but also in its 
letter, and they have learned in the common 
school that its ideas on some matters — for in- 
stance, the history of creation — are erroneous. 



TRADITIONAL VIEW OF THE BIBLE 67 

Here is the danger for thousands of people, that 
they will let go everything connected with Chris- 
tianity — its holy sanctions, its sublime ideals, its 
wonderful inspirations and consolations — when 
this fabric of unreasonable notions about the Sa- 
cred Book collapses, as it is doing and will con- 
tinue to do.^ 

From the foregoing reflections it would seem 
evident that there must be a better view of the 
Bible, more rational, natural, simple, heart-satis- 
fying. I am absolutely sure that there is such a 
better view, which saves all the excellences of 
Scripture and frees us from all its defects ; and it 
will be a delight to try to set it forth in succeed- 
ing chapters. 

* It was exactly such a conception of the Bible, involving such 
an issue, that gave the late Colonel Robert G. IngersoU his occu- 
pation as an opponent of the Christian religion. 



CHAPTER III 

WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 

At least a primary knowledge of the nature 
and service of biblical criticism is indispensable 
to a proper understanding of the better conception 
of Scripture of which we are in pursuit. There- 
fore, before we can go forward into the larger 
thought, the deeper faith, and the more vital 
spirituality which wait to reward our study, we 
must try to learn some simple lessons in this 
important matter. A brief, untechnical explana- 
tion of the need, the history, the methods, and the 
purpose of this fruitful branch of modern learn- 
ing may best enable the general reader to form a 
clear idea of the work of the scholars and of its 
true significance. 

If one were about to visit London, Paris, Ber- 
lin, and Rome, he would probably procure a 
guide-book of foreign travel, or perhaps join 
some "personally-conducted'* excursion party; 
and he might like also to know in advance what- 
ever he could learn from history, language, lit- 
erature, and art respecting those places and their 
people. Why ? Because the information thus ob- 
tained would so introduce those cities to the trav- 
eler as to prepare him to derive the most enjoy- 
ment and profit from his tour. It is much the 
same with the Bible ; it needs to be introduced to 

68 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 69 

one's study by preliminary explanations of its 
origin and character. The student must wander 
somewhat aimlessly through its pages, bewildered 
by its strange and multiform contents, without 
previous instruction concerning the land and the 
people that gave it birth, concerning its structure 
and history, and concerning the representative 
opinions which have been held regarding its place 
and value. In other words, there is need of 
what is technically called "An Introduction to 
the Study of the Scriptures," seeking to impart 
the requisite information to qualify one to ap- 
proach the Bible with a correct preconception 
as to i::s nature and worth. 

Now, partly out of the attempt to meet this 
need, partly out of the effort to satisfy the crav- 
ing for accurate and complete knowledge, for 
its own sake, and partly out of the wish to defend 
cherished, sacred beliefs, there has grown up the 
science of biblical criticism. Actuated by curi- 
osity, the love of truth, or a deep piety, men 
have wanted to learn all they could about the 
Bible — its origin, language, transmission, diffu- 
sion, interpretation, and intrinsic merits.^ There- 

^ "Two kinds of piety join their forces to press upon us 
the duty of knowing the Bible intimately. The first is the his- 
torical spirit, a true kind of piety, in that it bids us know the 
words and deeds of the men of the past, because of their intrin- 
sic worth and meaning. The second is the piety of the Christian, 
which bids us search the Scriptures because they have a deeper 
root in human experience than any other book, and because 
they speak home to our hearts as no other book can. The 
scientific motive demands the original facts and thoughts of 



70 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

fore they have bent themselves to make every in- 
quiry that might throw the least bit of light upon 
the various problems with which they have dealt, 
some of them of the minutest character; and by 
all these labors, prolonged and patient, there has 
been built up a large department of learning 
which may be properly called a science because 
it has its specialized workers, its vast accumula- 
tion of facts, its definite and reliable methods of 
procedure, and its verified results that are of 
great value. As such a department, it is merely 
a particular field of research lying within the do- 
main of historical and literary criticism in gen- 
eral, to which we are indebted for practically 
all our trustworthy knowledge of the past. Thus 
it appears that biblical criticism is simply one of 
the sisterhood of modern sciences; and surely, 
when we understand her true mission, we shall 
feel that her presence is benign and shall rejoice 
to do her grateful and loving homage. 

The word criticism denotes, primarily, a 
judgment, or an act of judging; its derivation 
from a Greek verb {Kpivco) meaning to disc em , 
ov to try, or to pass judgment upon, or to 
determine, gives it this signification. As applied 
to literary matters, it conveys the idea, not of 
fault-finding, but of fairly and justly estimating 

Scripture, distinct and separate from subsequent opinion regarding 
Scripture. The religious motive demands the Word of God in its 
pristine beauty. The two motives are at one." — Professor H. S. 
Nash, The History of the Higher Criticism, p. 5. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 71 

both merits and defects. In other words, it is 
simply an impartial judgment, or as nearly such 
as the given critic can render, on whatever ques- 
tion is under consideration. 

Plainly, then, biblical criticism is merely the 
science and art of understanding the Scriptures. 
One must understand them in order to appreci- 
ate them, that is, to judge them in strict truth. 
But no one fully understands the Scriptures who 
does not know all he can about them ; and in this 
sense, of course, nobody can be said to have an 
absolutely perfect comprehension of them. The 
little school-boy who can barely pronounce the 
words on the printed page does not really read 
his book; he will read it only when he learns to 
grasp the thought contained in the language. 
But who best lays hold of the thought of a writ- 
er? Clearly, he who knows most about the cir- 
cumstances and influences that contributed to the 
production of the work in question, together 
with the truest sympathy with the author's spirit 
or peculiar characteristics. The same principle 
holds in music, in art, in oratory, in literature 
generally; and he who gives the most perfect 
interpretation of a great work, in any of these 
departments of human life, is hailed as a genius 
and becomes a real helper of his fellow-men. It 
is quite so in biblical matters; he is the best in- 
terpreter of the Sacred Writings who enters 
most fully into the thought and spirit of their 



72 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

respective authors ; and he alone can do this who 
possesses, among other quahfications, a large 
amount of accurate knowledge concerning the 
times in which they wrote and the interests they 
sought to subserve. Thus biblical criticism be- 
comes simply a preparation for appreciating the 
Scriptures.^ 

Such preparation requires two things: (i) 
a knowledge of the historical conditions under 
which the authors of the Bible wrote, so far as 
these can be reproduced to thought; and (2) a 
knowledge of exactly what they wrote, as nearly 
as this can be ascertained. Hence biblical cri- 
ticism naturally divides itself into two branches, 
called the Lower or Textual, and the Higher or 
Literary.^ 

I. The Lower Criticism has to do with the 
text of Scripture. A brief account has been given 
in the first chapter of the way in which the 

2 "We define criticism, therefore, as that mental process in 
modern Christianity whereby the historic character, the true na- 
ture, of divine revelation is appreciated and manifested. This his- 
toric spirit, the desire to know the whole past even as it was in 
itself, comes in as a noble servant raised up by God to help the 
Church to truly know her Bible, and thus pay her debt to the 

Author of Sacred Scripture The well-being of the Church 

depends upon the right interpretation of the Bible. We must 
seek to know it from within and along the lines of its own mean- 
ing and purpose. That is our most sacred obligation." — Nash, 
History of the Higher Criticism, pp. 14, 15. 

3 "Criticism, in its earliest stage, took the form of text criti- 
cism. When, at a more advanced stage, it entered upon the inner 
study of Scripture, it called itself 'higher' in order to distinguish 
itself from the criticism of the text as a 'lower,' or preparatory 
form of study. The adjective is the result of a bare historical 
incident." — Nash, op. cit., pp. 12, 13. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 73 

writings of the Bible came down to us. Previous 
to the fifteenth century the only mode of trans- 
mission was that of hand-made copies. But it is 
evident that such copies could not be produced, 
by different persons, at different times, and in 
different countries, without a multitude of errors 
creeping into them. It is now known that, as 
a matter of fact, many thousands of such errors 
did actually occur, first and last; that is to say, 
the different manuscripts, large and small, at 
present known to exist, show a vast number of 
various readings, running all the way from a 
single letter, or even an accent or a breathing, 
to a word, a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph. 
Of the New Testament alone, 3,829 manuscripts 
— some of them, to be sure, only little fragments 
— had been catalogued by the year 1901.^ It is. 
not surprising, therefore, to learn that the "var- 
iants" in all these amount to a total of 150,000 
or more. Of course the great majority of such 
di£^erences are extremely slight, and do not ma- 
terially affect any important fact or truth; but 
others are of more serious consequence. It is 
neither possible nor desirable to discuss these 
here, but it is well for the reader to see how such 
variations have arisen. 

Even the mechanical process of printing does 
not always insure the publication and transmis- 

* See E. Nestle, Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the 
New Testament (1901), p. 34; translated by William Edie. 



74 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

sion of an author's exact words, as witness the 
various readings of many passages in Shake- 
speare's writings. Much more liable to variation 
must be hand-made copies of a literary work, es- 
pecially when frequently produced in the course 
of several centuries. The original "autographs" 
of the biblical books, that is, those bearing the 
signatures of their authors, undoubtedly perished 
completely long ago. They were written upon 
papyrus, which was both fragile and bulky, and 
which was subject, not only to the wear of much 
handling, but also to the disintegrating influences 
of most climates.^ True, the dry climate and 
soil of Egypt have preserved to the present day 
many papyri far older than the Christian era, 
and there always remains the bare possibility 
that a rich biblical "find" may yet be exhumed 
in that region; but all hopes in this direction 
must be of the feeblest character. The use of 
papyrus for the Scriptures was gradually dis- 
continued, being superseded by parchment at 
about the close of the third century.^ Now, 

^ For an instructive and quite detailed account of these mat- 
ters, see Frederic G. Kenyon's Handbook to the Textual Criti- 
cism of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1901), chap, ii; also Nestle, 
op. cit., chap, ii; r^so Julicher, An Introduction to the New Tes- 
tament, pp. 576-88; translation, Putnams, 1904. 

The entire New Testament on papyrus, even if written in a 
small hand and with narrow margins, would have made a roll about 
aoo feet in length; "the Gospel of St. Mark would occupy about 
19 feet, that of St. John 22 feet, 6 inches, St. Matthew 30 feet, 
the Acts and St. Luke's Gospel about 31 or 32 feet." — Kenyon, 
op. cit. 

« "Jerome tells us that between 340 and 380 the bishops of 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 75 

parchment was an expensive material. This 
fact necessitated the utilization of every sheet 
and led naturally to the crowding of each page. 
In some instances different works were joined 
in the same manuscript, in order to avoid wast- 
ing valuable space; and in others, more rarely, 
an early writing, deemed of less worth, was 
erased and a subsequent production inscribed in 
its place. Occasionally it has been possible, by 
the use of chemicals, to restore the former com- 
position. Thus the costliness of parchment and 
the manner of its use opened the way for errors 
to creep into the successive copies of the biblical 
manuscripts, while the greater frequency with 
which the papyrus rolls had to be reproduced in- 
creased the liability to variations in their case. 
Besides, as regards the New Testament writings 
particularly, they were not at first considered 
sacred and precious, and nobody had any idea 
of their preservation and circulation for hun- 
dreds of years; therefore, no such pains were 
taken in transcribing them as attached to the 
copying of the Old Testament books, or even 
the Greek classics. 

Again, the ancient mode of writing was to 
run the letters and words close together, without 

Caesarea saved the library formed in that place by Origen and 
Pamphilus from decay by laboriously transcribing everything it 
contained on to parchment. Thus the greater part of this library 
must originally have consisted of papyrus rolls, and we may prob- 
ably consider the period about 300 as that of the general transi- 
tion to the use gf parchment." — Jiilicher, op. cit., p. 576 



76 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

separation or punctuation. Let one imagine him- 
self confronted with even a printed page having 
no spaces between the words and no punctuation 
marks, and set to copy it or toi translate it; 
would he be likely to do it without a single mis- 
take? Furthermore, in the case of the Old 
Testament, the Hebrew was originally written 
without vowels. Let one imagine himself, again, 
confronted with a printed page of English hav- 
ing all the vowels removed and the consonants 
crowded close together; would it be easy to sup- 
ply those vowels by simply depending upon one's 
own judgment as to what they ought to be, and 
then to transcribe or to translate the writing 
without error? Yet such is a true hint of the 
way in which our Old Testament Scriptures 
have reached us. In view of these facts and the 
possibilities of deviation which they suggest, the 
marvel is that the books of the Bible have been 
preserved and transmitted with so little corrup- 
tion as has actually takci. place. 

The different kinds or classes of errors occur- 
ring in the process o'f making numerous copies 
of the Scriptures, under the general condi- 
tions thus described, may be barely mentioned 
here but can hardly be illustrated by specific ex- 
amples.''^ Some arose from a mere slip of the 

' For a minute exhibit of some of these, the reader may con- 
sult the works already cited; for instance, Kenyon, Our Bible and 
the Ancient Manuscripts, chap, i; also his Textual Criticism of the 
New Testament, pp. 7 f.; also particularly Julicher, Pt. Ill, chap, ii, 
§51. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 77 

pen, by which one letter or syllable was substi- 
tuted for another; some, by the accidental omis- 
sion of a word or a line. Occasionally margi- 
nal notes were later copied into the text; and 
parallel passages in the gospels were sometimes 
deliberately altered in order to bring them into 
harmony with one another. Still other errors 
no doubt owe their existence to the mutilation of 
manuscripts, or the dimming of words through 
the soiling or wearing of the material on which 
they were written, and the necessity thence aris- 
ing for the copyist to guess at the proper letter, 
word, or phrase to be inserted.^ 

Now; the problem of the Lower Criticism is 

8 "Finally there are errors of which nothing can be said 
save that they are unaccountable. Every one who has done 
much writing must know that now and again he puts down words 
which have no meaning in tire context in which he uses them, or 
(if he is copying) are wholly unlike the words which he should 
have , copied. His mind has strayed, and he has written down 
words which some obscure train of association has put into his 
head. Errors srch as these are sometimes made by the copy- 
ists of manuscripts, and since they have no traceable connection 
with the true text, they do not, as some kinds of error do, pro- 
vide the means for their own correction. The same may be said 
of errors due to the defectiveness of the manuscript from which 
the copy has been made. A word may be defaced or obliterated, 
and the copyist must either omit it or guess at it; and since a 
copyist often has but a hazy idea of the sense of what he is 
copying, his guesses are often wide of the mark. Errors from 
mutilation would arise with especial ease during the period when 
papyrus was the material in use for literary purposes. The sur- 
face was more delicate than that of vellum, and therefore more 
liable to small and local injuries, which will obscure, or wholly 
obliterate, a word or a sentence. Here again the true reading 
is often irrecoverable except by guessing, and even if a guess be 
right, it can rarely be proved to be right; and an unverified guess 
can carry but little weight for practical purposes." — Kenyon, The 
Textual Criticism of the New Testament, p. lo. 



78 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

to counteract as far as possible these numerous 
mistakes or various readings, which were bound 
to occur under the circumstances attending the 
transmission of the Scriptures through so long 
a period of time. The object of such criticism 
is to determine, with the highest degree of prob- 
ability, what the biblical authors actually wrote. 
This, as we have seen, is a prerequisite to a true 
understanding or interpretation of their writ- 
ings. Most of the work of the textual critics 
has been done since the invention of printing, 
and by far the best part of it within the last cen- 
tury. It has consisted (i) in ascertaining and 
weighing the documentary evidence — that is to 
say, in discovering, examining, and appraising 
all the manuscripts, large and small, contained in 
the university libraries and monasteries of Eu- 
rope, or elsewhere; (2) in carefully comparing 
and recording their agreements and disagree- 
ments, however minute, and in studying the ver- 
sions and quotations which might throw any 
side-lights upon these manuscripts; and (3) in 
constructing from these various sources a cor- 
rected text. The work has naturally divided it- 
self into two departments for the Old and the 
New Testaments respectively, and the results 
may be best summarized separately. 

I. In the case of the New Testament the 
available materials for the use of the textual 
critics are of the three classes just mentioned — 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 79 

Greek manuscripts, ancient versions, and quota- 
tions from the New Testament books in early 
Christian writings. Such quotations are nu- 
merous because there quickly sprang up a rich 
Christian literature, increasing from the last 
quarter of the first century, in which the sayings 
of Jesus and the teachings of the apostles were 
widely repeated. These patristic quotations, 
as they are called, though not always accurate 
and, therefore, not of the highest value, are 
nevertheless much esteemed for the collateral 
evidence which they afford in judging what the 
original text must have been. Likewise the ver- 
sions that were early produced, because the new 
religion rapidly spread among peoples of var- 
ious languages, and that antedate the oldest 
manuscripts, are of great worth in helping to 
determine the still earlier source or sources from 
which they were made. At least one of these 
versions, the Syriac, dating from the second cen- 
tury, is of extreme importance. But the princi- 
pal materials are the manuscripts, of which more 
than 3,800 are known and catalogued, while it 
is believed that two or three thousand others 
exist which have not yet been collated.^ Among 

^ "For no literary production of antiquity is there such a 
wealth of manuscripts as for the New Testament. Our classical 
scholars would rejoice were they as fortunate with Homer or 
Sophocles, Plato or Aristotle, Cicero or Tacitus, as Bible students 
are with their New Testament. The oldest complete manuscript 
of Homer that we have dates from the thirteenth century, and 
only separate papyrus fragments go back to the Alexandrian age. 



8o NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the chief of these known manuscripts there are, 
as stated in a previous chapter, two which be- 
long to the fourth century — Codex Sinaiticus, 
at St. Petersburg, and Codex Vaticanus, at 
Rome. Two others belong to the fifth century 
— Codex Alexandrinus, at London, and Codex 
Ephraemi, at Paris. There is still another, 
Codex Bezae, which some authorities place in 
the fifth century, and some in the sixth.^^ All 
the rest are of later dates.^^ 

With such materials at their service, the text- 
ual critics have studied them with wonderful pa- 
tience. The variations have been carefully no- 
ticed, recorded and published, along with the 

All that is extant of Sophocles we owe to a single manuscript 
dating from the eighth or ninth century in the Laurentian Library 
at Florenc . But of the New Testament, 3,829 manuscripts have 
been catalogued up till the present (1901). A systematic search 
in the libraries of Europe might add still more to the list; a 
search in those of Asia and Egypt would certainly do so. 
Gregory believes that there are probably some two or three 
thousand manuscripts which have not yet been collated, and every 
year additional manuscripts are brought to light. Most of these 
are, of course, lat:, and contain only separate portions, some of 
them mere fragments, of the New Testament. Not a few, how- 
ever, go much further back than our manuscripts of the Hebrew 
Old Testament and most of the Greek and Latin Classics." — 
Nestle, Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament, pp. 33, 34. 

10 See F. C. Burkitt, "Text and Versions," Encyclopedia 
Biblica, Vol. IV; also Julicher, op. cit., p. 605. 

11 A list of the more important manuscripts, indicating 
names, date: contents, and character, is given by J. O. F. Mur- 
ray, The Cambric' le Companion to the Bible (1893), article 
"Textual Criticism of the New Testament." He also gives an 
account of the ancient versions, alluded to above, and likewise 
of the early ecclesiastical writers affording quotations from the 
New Testament. Thus the ordinary reader may see what mai' 
terials the textual critics have to work upon. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 8i 

evidence supporting them. The interpretation 
of this evidence opens the way for differences 
of judgment, and the experts are not altogether 
agreed on many details ; in fact the work of this 
great department of scientific investigation is 
still going on. Hence a perfectly satisfactory 
text has not yet been constructed. Progress is 
being made, however, and the scholars hope to 
produce in the course of time a critical Greek 
text of the New Testament superior to any here- 
tofore in use, and far superior to that from 
which most of our English translations have 
been made. 

But it should not be inferred from the fore- 
going remarks that the uncertainties about the 
text of the New Testament are of serious mo- 
ment, as affecting our understanding of the es- 
sential purport of its various writings. The 
different readings are, indeed, numerous, but 
the vast majority of them are of trifling signifi- 
cance, and it may be said with emphasis that the 
labors of the textual critics have immensely sub- 
stantiated, instead of invalidating, the sources 
of our information regarding the teachings of 
the Christian Scriptures.^ ^ We know now bet- 

12 "Though it would not be right to pretend that the true 
reading can in all cases be determined with absolute certainty, or 
even to deny that there may be cases in which it has been lost 
altogether from all the available authorities, yet the materials are, 
beyond all comparison, more abundant, the results more secure, 
than is the case with regard to the text of any prose author of 
antiquity. The extremest margin of observed variation leaves 



82 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ter than scholars ever knew before what Jesus 
and the apostles actually did and said. 

2. The textual criticism of the Old Testa- 
ment presents quite a different situation. There 
are, indeed, as in the case of the New Testament, 
the same classes of materials, namely: manu- 
scripts, versions, and ancient quotations; and, 
in addition, extensive paraphrases called Tar- 
gums, and a great mass of commentary notes 
and explanations composing what is known as 
the Talmud. But the extant Hebrew manuscripts 
are of comparatively recent date, the oldest be- 
ing no earlier than the ninth century of our era ; 
and these are not in the same form, or even in 
exactly the same language, as those which the 
Old Testament Scriptures originally bore. The 
ancient Hebrew which was spoken and written 
by the Israelites prior to the Exile, and which 
the earliest and most important books of the 
Old Testament employed, was greatly modified 
by the breaking-up of the nation and its con- 
tact with other peoples through the Babylonian 
captivity and subsequent events. While this 
purer language continued to be used in writing 

seven-eighths of the Text untouched, and while it affects here 
and there a favorite proof-text it leaves the whole voice of 
Scripture on the main problems of life and conduct practically un- 
changed. And even this debatable one-eighth may be reduced 
by the careful application of the methods indicated, till, in the 
judgment of the most competent critics, 'the amount of what can 
in any sense be called substantial variation hardly forms more 
than a thousandth part of the entire Text.' " — J. O, F. Murray, 
Cambridge Companion, p. 75. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 83 

and copying the sacred books, so that they were 
all produced and preserved in it down to the 
Maccabean period, yet it was gradually super- 
seded by the Aramaic dialect, both in common 
speech and in ordinary writing. Hence it be- 
came the tendency and the practice to trans- 
literate the Scriptures into the Aramaic, and 
in the time of Christ they probably existed al- 
together in this language, except the Samaritan 
Pentateuch and the Greek translation, called 
the "Septuagint." The Samaritan Pentateuch, 
dating from the fourth century b. c, preserves 
the ancient Hebrew with slight modifications, 
while two other similar specimens of it are 
found in the inscription on the Moabite Stone 
(about 890 B. c.) and in that on the Pool of 
Siloam (about 700 b. c). 

Now, in the course of this transition of the 
Scriptures from the ancient Hebrew to the Ara- 
maic and thence to the Greek, and also by rea- 
son of the vicissitudes of the Jewish nation 
through which many precious literary works 
were lost, the text undoubtedly experienced 
some serious corruptions. The labors of the 
scribes became very important and were of a 
painstaking character; yet they exercised con- 
siderable editorial freedom, and introduced cer- 
tain changes which remained permanently.^^ It 

13 See Professor Charles A. Briggs, The Study of Holy Scrip- 
ture (1899), chap. vii. 



84 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

does not appear that an attempt was made to es- 
tablish an official text until after the destruction 
of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 a. d.^ or at 
about the time of the closing of the third section 
of the Old Testament Canon. Thereafter this 
established text prevailed, during the Talmudic 
period, until the era of the Masoretes (between 
the fifth and the eighth centuries). 

The Masoretes were Jewish scholars who set 
out to determine, from the mass of Talmudic 
notes and comments, the true traditional text; 
they also supplied the necessary vowel-points, 
inasmuch as the writings had come down to 
them orly in consonant form; and they recorded 
the traditional remarks, along with their own ex- 
planations indicating various readings. The 
school of the Masoretes had its seat at Tiberias, 
but its labors were not confined to one place and 
could rot be completed in one generation. They 
were performed with the most scrupulous care 
and fidelity, and when the work was finished the 
greatest pains were taken to secure its preser- 
vation and its use in the synagogues instead of 
any and all other forms of the text. It is this 
traditional or Masoretic text which has come 
down 'o our time, and from which the modern 
translations of the Old Testament have been 
made.^^ 

1* See Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts, chap. 
iv; also Encyclopedia Biblica, Vol. IV, art., "Text and Versions." 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 85 

With these and other materials — the Samar- 
itan Pentateuch, the Greek translation called 
the Septuagint, made in the third and second 
centuries before Christ, three minor Greek trans- 
lations made in the second century a. d., the 
Syriac Version made prior to the fourth cen- 
tury A. D., the Old Latin Version made from the 
Greek, and Jerome's new translation of the Old 
Testament called the Vulgate — with all these 
materials, and some of less importance not here 
included, the textual critics seek to remove errors 
from the Masoretic Text by the methods of com- 
parison and conjecture which experience and 
learning enable them to use with great skill. 
Their work is not yet finished, and perhaps will 
never be f ^rfectly accomplished ; but it has re- 
sulted, while proving the existence of mistakes, in 
demonstrating the essential trustworthiness of 
the Old Testament Scriptures, as they have come 
down to us, bringing the great eihical and reli- 
gious messages which the servants of God so 
faithfully deliveied in the anc'ent time. 

II. The Higher Criticism has to do with the 
inner substance of the Scriptures. It deals with 
their literary features, undertaking to judge as 
to the character and origin of the biblical books, 
and as to their relation to one another. To this 
end it studies the style, structure, and thought 
of each particular writing; seeks to ascertain 
whether it is the work of a single author, or a 



86 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

compilation; analyzes and dissects it, even to the 
extent of scrutinizing every word and syllable, 
every peculiar expression, every allusion to other 
writings; and tries to determine its date, its re- 
liability, its dogmatic bearings and its spiritual 
worth. Above all, perhaps, it aims to understand 
the times and circumstances under which a given 
portion of Scripture was produced, because this 
will be likely to throw the most light upon its 
real purport. As Professor George T. Ladd 
says: *'By the Higher Criticism is meant that 
study which tries to reproduce the influences and 
circumstances out of which the biblical books 
arose, and thus exhibit them as true children of 
their own time." ^^ To the same effect writes 
Professor W. Robertson Smith: "The critical 
study of ancient documents means nothing else 
than a careful sifting of their origin and mean- 
ing in the light of history." ^^ And Professor 
Charles A. Briggs says: "The questions of the 
Higher Criticism are questions of integrity, au- 
thenticity, credibility, and literary forms of the 
various writings that constitute the Bible." ^^ 

IS What is the Bible? p. 126. 

1* The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 16. 

^''Biblical Study, p. 171. But see his later work, General 
Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture (1899), chaps, xi 
and xii. "The literary study of Holy Scripture is appropriately 
called Higher Criticism to distinguish it from the Lower Criti- 
cism, which devotes itself to the study of the original texts and 
versions." Similarly, H. S. Nash, History of ihe Higher Criti- 
cism, p. 15: "The lower or preparatory criticism aims at the 



WIL^T 15 BIBLIC-\L CRITICISM? 87 

The special reason why such a work is neces- 
sary lies in the fact that the Scriptures, like 
other literar)* remains of antiquity, were pro- 
duced in an uncritical, that is to say, an unscien- 
tific age, when people were not careful about 
keeping precise records of dates and authorities, 
and have reached us through many changes of 
circumstances and form which cannot fail to pro- 
voke some question as to their trustworthiness. 
In common with the productions of ancient his- 
torians and poets, the sacred literature of all the 
great nations of the remote past has been sub- 
jected to a rigid scrutiny, in modern times,, to de- 
termine its real character and value, simply be- 
cause the temper of our age is not satisfied with 
tradition, but wants verification; in other words, 
it wants knowledge wherever possible, or ade- 
quate reasons for its true faith. 

But it must not be supposed that the Higher 
Criticism is entirely of recent origin. Like other 
significant movements in the realm of thought, it 
is the culmination of a long preparatory develop- 
ment. It has been growing ever since, in the 
later days of Judaism in Palestine, enough criti- 
cal judgment was exercised to decide what writ- 
ings should be admitted into the Old Testament 
Canon. Each of the three stages of this great 



original text cleared of corruptions and accretions. The Higher 
Criticism, the original text having been found, aims at the his- 
torical interpretation of Scripture." 



88 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

process, determining respectively and succes- 
sively the Canon of the Law, and then the Canon 
of the Prophets, and lastly the Canon of the 
Hagiographa, contributed to the increasing learn- 
ing and discrimination lying behind what is now 
a noble science. In be early Christian centuries 
when the New Testament Canon was likewise 
slowly forming, criticism made a marked ad- 
vance. It made another notable advance through 
the labors of the renowned scholar Origen,^^ who, 
during his sojourn at Csesarea (232-254 a. d.), 
produced his great Hexapla, which laid the foun- 
dation for real textual criticism, and who became 
the foremost teacher of the early Church. 
Through the work of Jerome, too, it took an- 
other stride forward; a thousand years later, the 
Reformers promoted it still further, through 
their translations and their observations upon the 
respective merits of various bibHcal books; and 
within the Irst two centuries it has become a 
more strictly scientific method of Bible study, 
striving to free itself from dogmatic preposses- 
sion and traditionary bias, and to know the real 
inner structure, nature, and purport of Scripture 
as revealed by the historic conditions of its pro- 
duction. The work of the textual critics has 
thus been supplemented by that of the literary or 
"higher" critics, whose company embraces a host 

*8 For a word of just appreciation of this illustrious Chris- 
tian scholar, sec Farrar, History of Interpretation, pp. 187, 188. 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 89 

of brilliant names reaching from the early 
years of the eighteenth century ^^ down to the 
present time. 

These brief general statements are wholly in- 
adequate to give an account of the rise and prog- 
ress of the Higher Criticism, but limits of space 
do not allow an extended treatment, and only a few 
very simple examples may now be cited to illus- 
trate its function. They will at least afford an 
elementary idea of the nature of the questions 
with which it deals. 

I. Let us take the book of Isaiah. Tradition 
has taught us to suppose that this was all written 
by the author whose name it bears, who flour- 
ished about 739-701 B. c. But a critical examina- 
tion shows that there are two very dissimilar 

1^ See Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, 
chap, xi; also Nash, History of the Higher Criticism of the 
New Testament, especially chaps, v and vi. "It was in the eight- 
eenth century that criticism became an historicp.l force. The 
mental conditions of the time differed profoundly from those 
of the early Middle Ages. If the latter was the classic age of 
Tradition, then the eighteenth century was the classic age of 
scepticism touching T edition. The typical reasoner in the first 
case was a man who looked at the Scriptures through the inter- 
pretation of the Fathers-, ?rd who looked at the universe through 
such fragments of ancient knowledje as had come down to him. 
Authority was the first word of the mediaeval man. It was also 

his last The typical man of the eighteenth century threw 

Tradition upon the dust heap It was in this century that 

criticism was born. From the conditions and causes that gave it 
birth we may draw a definition of its essential nature. The main 
condition was the bankruptcy of Tradition, leaving the mind 
free to know and possess itself. The main cause was the sense 
of outlying facts. So we define criticism as a movement of the 
human mind, inspired by the consciousness of truth unknown, but 
knowable, and sustained by the resolution to serve the truth 
without fear or favor." — Nash, op. cit., pp. 77, 78, 80, 81. 



9©; I NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

parts to it, viz., the first thirty-nine chapters, and 
the last twenty-seven. The former of these parts 
bears abundant evidence of having been written, 
with some exceptions, in the Assyrian period, 
long before the overthrow of Jerusalem by Baby- 
lon ; while the latter part bears equal evidence of 
having been produced, with some exceptions also, 
in the time of Cyrus, king of Persia, whom, it 
mentions by name as the Lord's "anointed," who 
should do his pleasure. Plainly the fact of such 
mention proves that there must have been a Cyrus 
to write about at the time ; but this was more than 
a hundred and fifty years after Isaiah's day, as 
Cyrus did not capture Babylon until 538 b. c. 
For this and other strong reasons the Higher Cri- 
ticism concludes that our present book of Isaiah 
consists mainly of two distinct works, the author- 
ship of the second of which is unknown. But the 
fact that it is anonymous does not impair its 
value. It is just as truly the voice of its age — the 
highest, clearest, divinest voice of the generation 
that heard its message originally — as it would be 
if we were certain of the author's name. It bears 
the stamp of its time, and the very mood of the 
great prophet whose soul gave forth its inspiring 
word of promise may easily possess the intelli- 
gent, sympathetic reader who takes in the mean- 
ing of its glowing utterances today. 

2. Take the forty-second Psalm, beginning, 
"As the hart panteth after the water-brooks." It 



WHAT IS BIBLICAL CRITICISM? 91 

has been widely believed that David wrote nearly 
all the Psalms. But surely no one can read this, 
after the idea has been suggested that it was writ- 
ten during the Captivity, without seeing at once 
what a new, fresh, earnest meaning it takes on. 
Listen to the plaintive strain of this mournful 
Israelite : 

My tears have been my food day and night, 

While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 

These things I remember, and pour out my soul within 

me, 
How I went with the throng, and led them to the house 

of God, 
With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping 

holyday. 

There is no difficulty in understanding that this 
Psalm must have been written at the time of the 
Babylonian Exile; but this was nearly five hun- 
dred years after David's age. 

3. Take another Psalm, cxxxvii : 

By the rivers of Babylon, 

There we sat down, yea, we wept, 

When we remembered Zion. 

Upon the willows in the midst thereof 

We hanged up our harps. 

For there they that led us captive required of us 

songs. 
And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying. 
Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 
How shall we sing Jehovah's song 
In a foreign land? 
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, 
Let my right hand forget her skill. 
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, 



92 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

If I remember thee not; 
If I prefer not Jerusalem 
Above my chief joy. 

It is clear that this could not have been written 
at any other time than that of the Captivity. 
These are some of the more simple cases in which 
the historical allusions easily enable the critic to 
determine the approximate dates of the writings 
under consideration. 

4. A moie difficult case is that of the Fourth 
Gospel, assigned by tradition to John the 
Evangelist, whose name it bears. This document 
is different from the other gospels. It opens with 
the expression of ideas belonging to the Logos 
philosophy prevalent in Alexandria, and these 
ideas color the work throughout. Jesus is not 
called ''the Son of Man," as in the other three 
gospels, but ''the Son of God," and the whole 
conception of his mission is peculiarly exalted 
and spiritual. The book is not so much a narra- 
tive of the outward events in the Master's career 
as it is a report of his attitude, his prevailing 
•mood, his profound thought and feeling; and yet 
the report is evidently a reflection of the author's 
interpretation of it all. These and many other 
facts raise the questior whether the gospel was 
really written by John, or by some non- Jewish 
Christian who was deeply influenced by Hellen- 
istic mysticism, writing in the early part of the 
second century, or whether, indeed, it may not be 



WHAT IS BIBLICALJCRITICISM? 93 

a composite work, embodying some of the mem- 
ories of the apostle along with the philosophical 
ideas and arguments of his own followers. This 
problem is not yet solved, but it is one which the 
Higher Criticism has dealt with most industrious- 
ly and which is still of the keenest interest. Per- 
haps the issue cannot be determined with cer- 
tainty, but the whole historic foundation of 
Christianity has been shown by the discussion to 
be more solid than it could otherwise have been 
known to be. 

The foregoing instances furnish merely a hint 
oif the task which the Higher Criticism sets itself 
to perform; namely, to ascertain as exactly as 
possible the origin, structure, character, and pur- 
port of every biblical writing, with the aim solely 
to discover and make known the truth, in the firm 
conviction that the truth is of God and may be 
trusted to do God's work in the souls of men who 
are brought to understand it. As a grand result 
of the critical movement, the entire Bible is speak- 
ing to us today with a singular freshness of in- 
terest and power. The historic periods in which 
its various books were produced are brought 
nearer to us than ever before ; our age is put into 
sympathy with the remote past; our minds and 
hearts are quickened anew by ancient thought, 
aspiration, and faith; and thus, perceiving and 
feeling the continuity of the mighty spiritual 



94 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

development running through the ages, we are en- 
abled by a knowledge of God's methods to put 
our own lives and labors more intelligently into 
harmony with his vast purposes. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NEW VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 

Granting the legitimacy and importance of bib- 
lical criticism as a large and fruitful branch of 
modern learning, we are prepared to ascertain 
the principal results which it has already pro- 
duced. While its work is by no means finished, 
and we should therefore be duly cautious about 
accepting every dictum pronounced in its name, it 
has progressed far enough during the two cen- 
turies ^ and more of its growth, to have estab- 
lished certain general conclusions which neces- 
sarily and quite radically modify the popular con- 
ception of Scripture. Indeed, it is not too much 
to say that, to those who receive the truth which 
it has brought to light, the Bible becomes, again, 
a new book, fresh and quickening, filled with 
new meanings, revelations, and inspirations, that 
are higher, richer, more natural, and more vital 
than the old. This is much to claim, but the 
claim can be substantiated, and its substantiation 
means a great spiritual blessing for all who will 
welcome it. What these better perceptions are 
will appear as the changed view develops in this 
and the next few chapters ; and though this view 
can be but meagerly presented here, even a 

1 See Professor George Adam Smith's Modern Criticism and the 
Preaching of the Old Testament, pp. 31 f. 

95 



96 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

glimpse of it in outline will compensate for the 
attention and thought required for its compre- 
hension. 

I. First to be noticed among the main features 
of the new view of the Old Testament is the fact 
that the several writings of zvhich it is composed 
are to be regarded as literature. Whatever may 
be their intrinsic value, and whatever account we 
may give of their inspiration, they come to us, 
first of all, as literary documents, and are to be 
approached and studied as such. This principle 
is fundamental in any proper treatment of the 
Holy Scriptures. While it is simple and is begin- 
ning to be widely accepted, it is still so new or so 
unappreciated in many circles that we shall need 
to continue to inculcate it until all classes are 
educated to its plain implications. 

Nor is the Old Testament the only collection of 
sacred writings in existence besides the New Tes- 
tament. As is well known, other peoples, in other 
countries and ages, have had their Holy Scrip- 
tures, m.any of which are still extant — those be- 
longing to the Brahm.ans, the Buddhists, the 
Parsees of Persia, the Chinese, and the Moham- 
medans, not to speak of the ancient Egyptians 
and others. The trutL is that the Hebrew or 
Jewish Bible is only one of the many bibles of 
the world, all of which are perhaps equally dear 
to their possessors. I say nothing as to their 
comparative merits; I merely state the fact, and 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 97 

may add that we ought to rejoice that, as God has 
not left himself without witness in all the world, 
so there have not been wanting expressions and 
memorials of such witness in the form of sacred 
literatures as well as in that of rites and cere- 
monies. 

Neither does our present Old Testament em- 
brace all the writings of the Israelitish people 
prior to the time of Christ. In some edi:'ons of 
the English Bible there is printed a list of four- 
teen books called "The Apocrypha." Protestants 
generally consider these uninspired, and yet 
worth reading and preserving ; but they have been 
received as canonical by the Roman Catholic 
Church, and were included in the Septuagint. 
They constitute a portion of Jewish literature 
just as truly as do the regular books of the Old 
Testament. Besides these there are now extant 
eighteen writings called "pseudepigraphical" 
(falsely ascribed), which must be classed as Jew- 
ish literature; and, still further, there are men- 
tioned in the Old Testament itself sixteen other 
books which have entirely perished.^ Thus it 
appears that the: e was a considerable literary 
activity among the Israelites the results of which 
are not contained in the Old Testament as we 
now have it. An explanation of the omission of 

^ See Sunderland's The Bible; its Origin, Growth and Character, 
p. 167; also Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, 
pp. 326 f. 



98 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

those that survive belongs properly in an account 
of the formation of the Canon, upon which I do 
not here enter. 

11. The second prominent feature of the new 
view of the Old Testament which must be fairly 
recognized is the truth that its various writings 
are to be studied in connection zvith the national- 
history of the Israelites. It is impossible to un- 
derstand them correctly if this principle be 
ignored. Like the former principle, just consid- 
ered, it is very simple, but it is even more impor- 
tant. People have been so long accustomed to 
think of the Bible primarily as a supernatural 
communication from the Almighty to each in- 
dividual of their own generation, that they have 
scarcely realized that it had an actual earthly his- 
tory. Therefore we need to press this thought 
that, no matter how much or how little the Bible 
contains which may be called supernatural and 
divine, it has come to us through human channels, 
under definite conditions of time, place, and race, 
which can be intelligently traced and clearly de- 
picted; and that some knowledge of these facts 
is indispensable as a preparation for grasping the 
inner, spiritual purport of the Scriptures. 

Unfortunately, such an historical conception 
or attitude has been difficult of attainment by the 
average reader on account of the non-chrono- 
logical arrangement of the biblical books, to- 
gether with the marginal dates and the headings 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 99 

of chapters given in many editions of the Auth- 
orized Version. Genesis and the other portions 
of the Pentateuch come first, but very much in 
them was not written until a late date in Israelit- 
ish history — as late at least as the Babylonian 
Exile — while the work as a whole, the Torah or 
Law, was not put into its final, canonical shape 
until two or three centuries later. On the other 
hand, the books of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and 
Micah, which are in the latter third of the Old 
Testament as we have it, were produced quite a 
time before the Exile. Again, the Psalms, the 
Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are placed in about 
the middle of the Old Testament; but most of 
these writings are of still later origin than the 
principal parts of the Pentateuch. 

Now there is no reason why we may not, for 
purposes of study at least, rearrange the writ- 
ings of the Bible to fit the improved chronology 
which modern learning has practically deter- 
mined. Indeed, this is being done already, to 
a limited extent, and with great profit to the 
reader.^ Besides, we can frame an outline of the 
national history of the Israelites that will enable 
us to understand the allusions which must be 
made to diiTerent periods and conditions in speak- 

3 Yor one example, see the series of handbooks called The 
Messages of the Bible, by Professors Sanders and Kent, Scribner, 
1898; also Kent's The Student's Old Testament Logically and 
ChronologicaV.y Arranged and Translated, Scribner, 6 vols.. Vols. 
I and II published 1905. Exceedingly valuable. 

LOFC 



loo NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ing of the authorship and dates of various works 
contained in the Old Testament.^ Such an his- 
torical sketch, as concise as I can well give, and 
without treating the origin and early migration 
of the Hebrews, is presented at this point as a 
preparation for what is to follow in the later por- 
tions of this chapter. 

1. We will begin by accepting Professor Toy's 
assignment of the year 1330 b. c. as the approx- 
imate date of the exodus from Egypt under 
Moses. The Israelites invaded and conquered 
Canaan about 1300 b. c. The conquest was un- 
doubtedly gradual, and for two hundred years 
society was inchoate, life was rough and religion 
crude. Slowly the social elements united and 
fused, and a kingdom was established, with Saul 
as king, in the year 1060 b. c. After twenty years 
he was succeeded by David, and he by his son 
Solomon, each of whom reigned, it is said, forty ^ 
years. Outwardly this was a brilliant period, the 
national life was deepened and strengthened, and 
the temple built in Jerusalem indicated the growth 
of a distinctive form of religion. 

2. In the year 960 b. c. a rebellion and a divi- 
sion of the kingdom took place, and for two hun- 

* Here, too, much valuable aid has been recently afforded by 
such popular works as Professor C. H. Toy's brief History of the 
Religion of Israel, Professor C. F. Kent's three vols, on Hebrew 
and Jewish history, and Processor C H, Cornill'- History of tht 
People of Israel, and his other books. 

^ Forty is a round number, often used in the Bible, and not to 
be taken as necessarily exact. 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT loi 

dred and forty years there were two kingdoms, 
namely, the northern called Israel, and the south- 
ern called Judah. This was a period of strife and 
trial, that naturally evoked the deeper thoughts 
and feelings of the people, which found expres- 
sion in a few noble writings and in the preaching 
of the early prophets. In the year 720 b. c. the 
Assyrian army overthrew Samaria, the capital of 
the northern kingdom, and carried into captivity 
the flower of the population. Under the depress- 
ing influence of this calamity other prophets 
arose to exalt and purify the religious life of the 
people of the southern kingdom. But in less than 
one hundred and fifty years this, too, fell into the 
hands of a foreign power. Babylonia, and a sec- 
ond and a third deportation of captives took place. 
Then, indeed, was the whole land desolate, while 
the exiles were in bondage and sorrow. The 
Exile lasted about fifty years, to 536 b. c. ; it was 
a productive literary period, and in important re- 
spects greatly modified the national religion. 

3. Cyrus, King of Persia, having taken Baby- 
lon (538 B. c), gave the Jews permission to re- 
turn to their native land. Some, but comparatively 
few,^ availed themselves of the privilege, and in 
time, amid many hardships, rebuilt the walls of 
Jerusalem and restored the worship of the tem- 
ple; indeed, they went beyond all their former 
zeal in developing the priesthood and elaborating 

« See Cheyne, Jewish Religious Life after the Exile, chap. i. 



I02 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

a ritual. Hence this became distinctively the 
priestly period, lasting roughly from the Exile to 
the time of Christ. During it there was consid- 
erable literary activity, especially in the earlier 
centuries of it; but much of its product was 
shaped and colored by the priestly or ritualistic 
spirit. It was also a time of contact with foreign- 
ers, and of oppression by them — by Persia, 
Greece, Syria, Egypt, and Rome. This was gall- 
ing, but it could not crush, and in some respects 
it intensified, the messianic hope that now hast- 
ened toward its consummation. 

Bearing in mind these general historical facts, 
we shall be qualified to appreciate what the bib- 
lical critics mean when they assign a given work 
to a particular period ; and we shall do well to re- 
member also that, throughout the entire history 
from Moses to Jesus, it was the nation that pro- 
duced the Scriptures, and not the Scriptures the 
nation. 

III. But by far the most important feature of 
the new view of the Old Testament is a recogni- 
tion of the late dates and the composite character 
of most of its writings. The significance and ap- 
plication of this principle will become clear as we 
proceed to examine some of the chief portions 
of these venerable literary remains. 

We do not know when the art of writing com- 
menced; nor does it matter very much. It may 
have been practiced a long time by some peoples 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 103 

before it was known to others. For example, it 
is certain that the Greeks and Romans had a large 
body of the highest kind of literature centuries 
before the Teutonic tribes of northern Europe 
were even semi-civilized. So the Egyptians and 
Chaldeans may have been perfectly familiar with 
writing, and may have had extensive written rec- 
ords, before there was any Israelitish nation in 
existence; in fact we now know positively that 
this was the case;''' yet this does not prove that 
Moses and the early Israelites knew how to write, 
any more than the fact that nearly all New Eng- 
landers could read and write, at the middle of the 
nineteenth century, proves that nearly all the 
negroes of the South could do likewise at that 
time.^ And even if Moses was really "learned in 
all the wisdom of the Egyptians," so that he 
might have written a hundred books, it does not 
at all follow that he wrote the Pentateuch,^ or, 

'^ Professor Kent says: "In order rightly to understand the 
growth of IsraeVs institutions it is necessary to remember that 
the Hebrews were emong the youngest of the Semitic peoples, 
and therefore the inheritors of at least twenty centuries of civ- 
ilization. The magnitude of their debt to the nations which ante- 
dated them and became their teachers is undoubtedly far greater 
than has hitherto been imagined." — Messages of Israel's Law- 
givers, p. 5. So writes Professor Friedrich Delitzsch: "Now that 
the pyramids have opened their depths and the Assyrian palaces 
their portali. the people of Israel, with their literature, appears 
but the youngest member of a venerable and hoary group of 
nations." 

8 For a similar remark see Professor G. A. Smith, Modern 
Criticism and the Preaching of the Old Testament, p. 59, note. 

^ For a sane and scholarly discussion of this point, see ibid., 
pp. 56-67. 



104 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

indeed, anything else; although we may readily 
enough believe that he did write down, or engrave 
upon stone tablets, some of the fundamental laws 
ascribed to him. Probably Jesus knew how to 
write, but we have no knowledge of any literary 
work which he produced. 

Again, we in modern times and in our western 
world, with our more orderly methods of think- 
ing and working, can hardly understand how the 
ancients composed their books. Today an author 
writes out his thoughts in continuous, logical se- 
quence; and if he quotes he gives references, is 
conscientious about using materials, and would 
not think of publishing his work over the name 
of some other and more illustrious personage. Not 
so, however, in the Bible times. Says Professor 
Driver, of Oxford : 

The authors of the Hebrew historical books — except 
the shor'est, as Ruth and Esther — do not, as a modem 
historian would dc rewrite the matter in their own 
language; they excerpt from the sources at their dis- 
posal such passages as are suitable to their purpose, and 
incorporate them in their work, sometimes adding mat- 
ter of their own but often (as it seems) introducing 
only such modificatiors of form as are necessary for the 
purpose of fitting them together, or accommodating them 
to their plar. The Hebrew historiographer, as we know 
him, is essentially a compiler or arranger of pre-exist- 
ing documents; he is not himself an original author/* 

Professor W. Robertson Smith wrote to the 
same effect, and said further: 

10 Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testarnent, p. 3. 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 105 

If a man copied a book, it was his to add to and 
modify as he pleased, and he was not in the least bound 
to dis anguish the old from the new. If he had two 
books before him to which he attached equal worih, he 
took large extracts from both, and harmonized them 
by such additions or modifications as he felt to be 
necessary.^^ 

Understanding all this, we are not surprised 
to learn that many authors, desiring to gain cur- 
rency for their books, ascribed them to distin- 
guished persons of former times — as, for instance, 
the writer of the book of Daniel did, who is 
thought to have written his work about 168 or 
167 B. c.^ but in the person of the Daniel of 
Babylonian times. 

Now, in the light of the foregoing considera- 
tions, we may take up some of the Old Testament 
writings and inquire about their origin and struc- 
ture. 

I. THE PENTATEUCH 

Naturally we begin with the Pentateuch, pop- 
ularly known as the "Hyq books of Moses" — Gen- 
esis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuter- 
onomy. The Jews called them, collectively, the 
Torah, or, as we should say, the Law; but the 
term Pentateuch, meaning *'five-fold book," has 
prevailed largely since the Septuagint translation 
(into Greek) was made, about the second century 
B. c. For two thousand years or more tradition 

11 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. Ill, p. 638, art., "Bible." 



io6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

has ascribed the authorship of these books to 
Moses, although they themselves make no such 
clami, excepting portions of Deuteronomy. Un- 
doubtedly there is reason for presuming that tra- 
dition, which is simply customary opinion, has 
some basis in fact, or else it would not exist ; but 
such reason is slight in the present instance. It 
may be natural to assume that the authorship of a 
literary work is singular, because ordinarily this 
is the case; yet today we have examples of col- 
lab oration, even in the production of stories. It is 
n?iSi2\, perhaps tc suppose that water ard air 
are simple parts of the material universe; but 
modern chemistry shows us that they are not 
really simples at all, but compounds. It might be 
thought a natural presupposition that a ray of 
sunshine is simply a stream of pure white light, 
and, but for science, one might never have dream- 
ed that there are over half a dozen different colors 
ill it that can be distinctly separated from one 
another; yet such is really the case, and we have 
only to pass a ray of sunshine through a prism to 
afford an ocular demonstration of the fact. Just 
so it is with the composition of the Pentateuch: 
without evidence to the contrary, we might accept 
the traditional belief that it is the work of a single 
author; but upon a clear proof that it is a union 
of seve; al different works, we are compelled to 
give up the customary notion, and accept the true 
verdict. 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 107 

For a century and a half the Higher Critics 
have been toiHng patiently over this problem, and 
they have reached, not, indeed, a unanimous, 
but a very general, agreement as to the following 
conclusions : 

1. That the Book of Joshua, immediately after 
the Pentateuch, belongs with it as an organic part 
of the same great work ; so that we should speak 
of the Hexateuch, or first six books of the Bible, 
as a whole. 

2. That this Hexateuch is composed of four 
different main writings or documents, produced at 
different times by different authors, which were 
finally welded together, with editorial additions, 
in the early part of the priestly period of Israel- 
itish history, that is to say, after the return from 
Babylon; and that these four main writings are 
themselves more or less composite. 

3. That these four general documents have 
each such strongly marked characteristics of style, 
phraseology and 'local color" as tO' be easily dis- 
tinguishable to the trained critic, in their princi- 
pal features; so that they can be, and have been, 
separated and printed in different types, or (as 
in the Polychrome Bible) in different hues, with 
confirming results not less striking than those 
yielded by the prismatic analysis of a ray of sun- 
shine. 

Now it is proper to ask how these conclusions 
have been wrought out ; and a simple, concise ex- 



io8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

planation is here given. First, it had been noticed, 
among other peculiarities, that there are frequent 
repetitions of the same things, but in different 
words, in the narratives of the Pentateuch; and 
especially that there are, in Genesis, two distinct 
accounts of the creation, one of them being in the 
first chapter, and the other in the second ; and that 
these vary considerably. Second, it was observed 
that the first of these accounts uses the word Elo- 
him (translated God) to represent the Divine Be- 
ing, while the other uses the term which we com- 
monly render by our English word "Jehovah." 
This dzscovery was made by Jean Astruc, a 
French physician, in 1753, who was the first to 
conjecture and demonstrate the compilation of 
the bock from at least two older narratives. 
Third, this theory was shortly afterward (1779) 
taken up in Germany by Eichhorn, who made a 
list of several other words peculiar to each Gene- 
sis-writer, the existence of which had been in- 
ferred from Astruc's disclosure; and the clues 
thus furnished were followed up, by Ilgen 
(1798) and many subsequent critics, with slowly 
increasing results elaborating, correcting, and 
confirming various theories, until the present con- 
sensus of opinion has been established.^^ 

^2 A brief sketch of this development is given by Professor 
George F. Moore in his introduction to Bacon's Genesis of Gen- 
esis; also G. A. Smith's Modern Criticism and the Preaching of 
the Old Testament, pp. 33-41; Briggs, Introduction to the Study 
of Holy Scripture, pp. 378 ff. 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 109 

Today, then, it may be said that the over- 
whehning judgment of critical scholarship is to 
the effect that the Hexateuch as we now have it 
originated in substantially the following manner : 

First, there was produced, in the ninth century 
before Christ, an historical work which we call 
the Jehovistic Writing, or, more briefly the Jehov- 
ist (or Jahvist), or simply J, because of its use 
of the word Jehovah ( Yahweh) for God (because 
also the author belonged to the southern king- 
dom, Judah).^^ Shortly afterward a second work 
was produced, called now the Elohist Writing, or 
the Elohist, or E, so designated because it em- 
ploys Elchim for God (and because also this 
writer was an Ephraimite).^* Both oif these 
works may be said to have appeared between 850 
and 750 B. c.,^^ and were subsequently united. 
Then a third book, consisting essentially of our 
Deuteronomy, and hence called the Deuterono- 
mist, or D, was pioduced, somewhere between 
660 and 622 B. c. and later this was joined to the 
two preceding works.^^ Next a Priestly Code 

^' See Bacon's Genesis of Genesis, p. 21, note. 

1* Ibid. 

^^ See Professor W. E. Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch. 
Vol. I, p. Ixxxii; also L. W. Batten's The Old Testament from 
the Modern Point of View (James Pott & Co., 1899), chap, iv; 
and especiaHy Professor C. F. Kent's The Student's Old Testa- 
ment, Vol. I, with table giving classification of analyzed contents, 
and the parallel narratives in a new translation. 

^^ Respecting the date of Deuteronomy, see Addis, Docu- 
m.ents of the HexateucJ Vo\ II (rSpS), for a reconsideration of 
the question. See also articles on Deuteronomy in Encyclopedia 



no NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

was written, not far from 500 b. c.^ in the inter- 
est of the temple and the ritual ; and this, giving a 
kind of skeleton of Israelitish history, covers it 
with the flesh and blood of ceremonial legislation. 
Authorities differ somewhat sharply as to the 
date of th:*s writing, but not as to its existence. 
Finally, about the middle of the fifth century, all 
these documents were united by one or more edi- 
tors or redactors, who made some changes and 
additiors, and were henceforth promulgated as 
the Tor ah of the Jewish people.^'' 

Biblica and Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible; J. Estlin Carpenter 
and C. Harford Battersby, The Hexateuch (1900), chap, x; and 
Driver's Introduction, chap, on Deuteronomy. 

'^'^ Professor Charles A. Briggs describes the situation thus: 
"Looking at the facts of the case, we note that the careful 
analysis of the Hexateuch by so large a number of the ablest 
biblical scholars of the age has brought about general agreement 
as to the following points: (a) An Elohistic writing extending 
through the Hexateuch, written by a priestly writer, commonly, 
therefore, designated by P. (&) A Jahvistic writing, also ex- 
tending through the Hex?teuch, designated by J. (c) A second 
Elohistic writing in close connection with the Jahvist, designated 
by E. (d) The Deuteronomic writing, chiefly in Deuteronomy 
and Joshua, with a few traces in the earlier books, designated 
by D. ie) These writings have been compacted by redactors who 
first combined J with E, then J E with D, and at last JED 
with P. Notwithstanding the careful way in which these docu- 
ments have been compacted into a higher unity by these suc- 
cessive editings, the documents may be distinguished by char- 
acteristic differences, not only in the use of the divine names, 
but also in language and style; in religious, doctrinal, and moral 
conceptions; in various interpretations of the same historic per- 
sons and events, and in their plans and methods of composi- 
tion; differences which are no less striking than those which 
characterize the four Gospels," — The Higher Criticism of the Hexa- 
teuch, p. 68. 

Elsewhere the same scholar says: "There are no Hebrew 
professors on the continent of Europe, so far as I know, who 
would deny the literary analysis of the Pentateuch into the four 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT I II 

The discovery and elucidation of the foregoing 
facts constitute one of the great achievements of 
modern learning. In its way, the demonstration 
is as important and revolutionary as was the Co- 
pernican theory in astronomy, or the Darwinian 
doctrine of ''Na;:iral Selection." Its inevitable 
practical bearings cannot be fully indicated here, 
but it may be said that it must afford us a new con- 
ception of the history of the Israelitish people, and 
must modify to no small extent our acceptance 
and use of the first six books of the Bible. We 
can no longer regard these books as a homogene- 
ous, continuous, orderly, comprehensive, accurate 
history of the origin and course of human events 
in this world ; or as a te^iAook of science ; or even 
as a compendium of morals and religion. We 
must regard them rather as an accretive compila- 

great documents. The professors of Hebrew in the Universities 
of Oxford Cambridge, Edirburgh, and tutors in a large number 
of theological colleges, hold to the same opinion. A very con- 
siderable number of the Hebrew professors of America are in 
accord with them. There are, indeed, a few professional scholars 
who hold to the traditional opinion, but these are in a hopeless 
minority. I doubt whether there is any question of scholarship 
whatever in which there is a greater agreement among scholars 
than in this question of the literary analysis of the Hexateuch." — 
Presbyterian Review, April, 1887. 

Similar testimonies from other writers might be easily ad- 
duced, but world needlessly encumber these pages. Besides the 
references already given, see Professor J. E. McFadyen's Old 
Testament Criticism and the Christian Church (1903), chap, iii, 
for a good account of differences of opinion among the critics, 
with an admirable summary of general agreements. Driver's In- 
troduction and Kent's Student's Old Testament, Vol. I, will be 
likely to be most serviceable to the general' reader. The Documents 
of the Hexateuch (1892-98), in two vols, by W. E. Addis, is a 
valuable work. 



112 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

tlon of various historical sketches, comprising an- 
cient fragments of story and song, legend and 
myth, some of which have drifted down from the 
time of Moses or beyond; and comprising also 
connected tales, ritualistic ordinances, codes of 
laws, and earnest religious instructions and ap- 
peals — all expressive of the ideas, faith, and cus- 
toms of the Hebrews at different periods of their 
national life. By this literature, with an outline 
of Hebrew history clearly in mind, we may trace 
and illustrate, with fresh interest and deep sym- 
pathy, the progress of the nation and the develop- 
ment of the national religion ;^^ without such an 
historical sketch, and without an understanding 
of the composite character of these ancient books, 
our reading of them must continue to produce in- 
tellectual confusion, however they may imbue us 
with an earnestly devout spirit. With the sketch 
and the analysis before us, we may have the bless- 
ing of clear information^ together with the same 
earnestly devout spirit; and the information will 
be true — we shall be no longer out of harmony 
with modern knowledge. 

II. OTHER WRITINGS 

In a similar way we must revise the traditional 
opinion of many of the other Old Testament 

18 For the clearer, truer insight into the nature and pro- 
cess of this development which the new learning affords, see 
Professor Karl Buddc's Religion of Israel to the Exile (Putnam, 
1899). 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 113 

books. Limits of space forbid a treatment of all 
these, and, indeed, allow only the briefest re- 
marks concerning a few of them. The reader 
who cares to pursue his inquiries further may ob- 
tain instruction from some of the works already 
mentioned, and it is hoped that sufficient interest 
will have been awakened by this cursory chapter 
to prompt to such more extensive and particular 
study. The whole subject is engaging, enlight- 
ening, and wonderfully profitable. 

1. Following the Hexateuch is the book of 
Judges, consisting of narratives that vividly de- 
pict the social conditions prevailing in Palestine 
between the Conquest and the days of Samuel. 
The work is believed to have been drawn from 
some of the same sources, oral and written, which 
entered into the earlier documents of the Hexa- 
teuch, and to have been compiled by an unknown 
writer shortly before or in the time of the Exile 
(650-550 B. c). It contains later editorial addi- 
tions, and gives a strongly religious interpreta- 
tion of the history of the remote period which it 
covers.^ ^ 

2. The two books of Samuel (they were only 
one originally; the Septuagint divided them) take 
up the history of Israel where the Hexateuch 
leaves it, and carry forward the account nearly 
through the reign of David. They partake largely 

i» See Bennett and Adeney's "Introduction;" Toy's "History 
of the Religion of Israel;" and G. F. Moore's "Judges" in the 
International Critical Commentary, Scribner (T. & T. Clark). 



114 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

of the character of Judges, but are thought to 
have been composed somewhat earHer. 

3. The two books of Kings, constituting a 
single work, Hke I and II Samuel, bring the his- 
tory down to the Babylonian Captivity. They 
refer frequently to other writings not known to 
us, such as the Book of the Acts of Solomon^ the 
Books of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, 
and the Books of the Chronicles of the Kings of 
Judah. The work is Deuteronomic in character, 
and was substantially completed before the end of 
the Exile, only a few portions being subsequently 
added. Like all the preceding works, it is com- 
posite in structure. 

4. I and II Chronicles ate a duplicate ^^ and 
inferior history, originally constituting, with Ezra 
and Nehemiah, a single work. It undertakes to 
cover the history from Adam to the end of Nehe- 
miah's reign, is compiled of extracts from earlier 
documents, and is domi'^.ated by the priestly spirit. 
Dr. Driver dates all these writings not earlier than 
332 B. c.^^ Professor Toy dates them about 
300; 22 while Bennett and Adeney say 300-250.^^ 

5. The remaining portions of the Old Testa- 
ment, especially the great Prophets, the Psalms, 
and Job, are altogether too important to be con- 

20 The Septuagint title, "Paralipomena," correctly indicates the 
character of the work as duplicate and supplementary. 
^^Introduction, pp. 486, 511. 

22 Judaism and Christianity, p. 55. 

23 Biblical Introduction, pp. 108, 109. 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT US 

sidered in a few pages ; and this chapter is already 
long enough to have served its main purpose, 
which has been merely to afford a glimpse of the 
new view of the Old Testament resulting from 
modern scholarship. The salient features of this 
view which have been thus far presented may be 
taken as a hint of the changed aspects that the 
other books, just mentioned, may be expected to 
assume upon due study. The reader will learn 
that there were earlier and later prophets in Is- 
rael; that the prophetical writings, as they have 
come down to us, are more or less composite; 
that the Psalms are m_ostly late productions, ori- 
ginating in the period after the Exile, and are re- 
ligious poems or hymns voicing the spiritual as- 
piration and struggle of the Jewish nation; that 
the Proverbs are collections of wise sayings, be- 
longing to what is called the Wisdom Literature 
of Israel, and necessarily written by different au- 
thors at different times; while Job is a sublime 
poem grappling with the great problem of the 
suffering of the just man, and produced by some 
unknown writer, with probably later additions, 
shortly before the Exile, or possibly as late as 300 
B. c. — it is impossible to determine the exact date 
of such a work.24 Each of these subjects, in itself, 
is a large and instructive topic, of profound in- 
terest and importance to one who really cares to 

2* "The Book of Job may spring from any date between the 
Exile and 300 B.C." — Professor Geo. Adam Smith, Modern Criti- 
cism, etc., p. 286. 



Ii6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

know something of the history and character of 
this sacred, noble, inspiring literature. Happily, 
much information respecting each is now avail- 
able, and those who have read this chapter to the 
present point are urged to go on with their study 
by consulting other works, more learned as well 
as more particular and complete. 

It is to be remembered that many matters of 
detail are still unsettled, many problems are still 
unsolved. The analysis of the Hexateuch, as 
well as that of the other composite works, is by no 
means perfect or fully agreed upon by scholars, 
especially in its minute phases; quite likely, such 
entire agreement may never be attained, and the 
precise dates of many portions of the Old Testa- 
ment may never be absolutely fixed. But enough 
has been demonstrated beyond question, in the 
broader aspects of the case, to call for a recon- 
struction of the traditional conception both of 
Hebrew history and of the origin of the Hebrew 
Scriptures. As this reconstruction comes gradu- 
ally to be wrought out, and shall at length become 
clear and familiar, first among university profes- 
sors and ministers, then among Sunday-school 
teachers ard at last in the popular mind, it will 
be the means of a great education regarding the 
place which Israel has filled in the world, regard- 
ing the works and ways of Divine Providence 
among the nations, and regarding the peculiar ex- 
cellences of those ancient writings which have 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 117 

served to convey to mankind the Word of Life, 
and which constitute so large a part of what we 
justly call our Holy Bible. 

If, under this new view of the Old Testament, 
the individual writer of Scripture seems to be of 
less importance than hitherto, the importance of 
the nation increases; so that the Old Testament, 
or almost any given book in it, becomes not merely 
the voice of a single soul, but rather the voice of 
a people J expressing its deep longing, its expand- 
ing life, its growing ethical and religious faith, 
and its intensifying devotion to the one living and 
true God, whose mighty providence is forever 
its refuge and strength.^^ 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE A 

Principal Events in Hebrew History 

Authorities. 
Toyi Kautzsch* Budde* 
(1882) (1897) (1899) 

B. C. B. C. B. C. 

Exodus from Egypt under Moses.. 1330 31320 31250 

Invasion of Canaan 1300 ai28o bi20o 

David made king 1040 a:ooo 1000 

Division of the kingdom 960 3933 933 

Accession of Ahab of Israel 903 3876 876-54 

Downfall of Omri dynasty 842 842 843 

The prophets Amos and Hosea. . . . 785 779-43 760-45 

The call of Isaiah .... 740 740 

Accession of Hezekiah of Judah. . 726 .... 725 

Fall of the northern kingdom.... 720 722 7x3 

Siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib.. .... 701 701 

Manasseh, king of Judah 639 — 643 696-41 

Josiah, king of Judah 639 640-9 639-8 

25 After reading the above chapter a careful perusal of 
Budde's Religion of Israel to the E.Ale (Putnam) and of Cheney's 
j£wish Religious Life After the Exile (Putnam) would prove 
illuminating as well as keenly interesting. 



ii8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Authorities. 
■V Toyi Kautzsch* Budde" 

(1882) ^(1897) (1899) 

B. C. B. C. B. C. 

The prophet Jeremiah 626-580 628 — 626 — 

Reforms of Josiah based on Deut. . .... 62a 6ai 

Death of Josiah at Megiddo 609 609 604 

First capture of Jerusalem by Neb- 
uchadnezzar .... .... 597 

Fall of Jerusalem, beginning of Baby- 
lonian Captivity 586 586 586 

Babylon taken by Cyrus 539 539 538 

Return of some Jews to Canaan.... 536 3536 .... 

Visit of Ezra to Jerusalem 457 458 .... 

Nehemiah in Jerusalem 444 445 .... 

Building of Samaritan temple at Ger- 

eziin ) 3335 

The Jews submit to Alexander the 

Great 22^ 

Maccabaean War ai65 166 .... 

Jerusalem taken by Pompey 63 .... .... 

a — about, b — before. 

1 History of the Religion of Israel. 

2 The Literature of the Old Testament, with chronological 
tables (Putnam) translated by John Taylor. Especially full and 
valuable. See pp. 167-205. 

3 Religion of Israel to the Exile. 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE B 
Approximate Dates of Old Testament Books 

A very brief tabulation of the more important dates, 
some of which are necessarily very uncertain, and are 
only ofered provisionally, v/ill show at a glance the 
main bearings of the critical reconstruction of the lit- 
erary history.^ 

B.C. 

Traditions, war ballads, and other songs 1200-1000 

The prophetic history of the Jehovist document 850 

The prophetic history of the Elohist document 750 

Amos and Hosea 7 So-73 5 

Isaiah 740-700 

Micah 725-690 

Nahum 650 

Zephaniah 630 

Deuteronomy (written probably in Manasseh's reign), published. .621 



NEW VIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT 119 



B. C. 

Jeremiah 626-586 

Habakkuk 600 

Exile 597 B. c. (first deportation) 586 (second deportation) to... 538 

Ezekiel 592-570 

Lamentations 586 

All the historical books up to Kings edited in the spirit of 

Deuteronomy 600-560 

Deutero-Isaiah 540 

Haggai and Zechariah , 5*0 

Psalter, collected, edited, and largely composed 520-150 

Priestly Code (Leviticus, etc.) 500-450 

Malachi 460 

Ruth 450 

Joel, Jonah, Obadiah, Job 450-400 

Pentateuch in practically its present form, before 400 

Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah 350-250 

Song of Songs 350 

Proverbs 300 

Ecclesiastes 250 

Daniel 167 

Esther 150 

1 From Professor John E. McFadyen's Old Testament Criticism 
and the Christian Church, Appendix, pp. 369, 370. The para- 
graph and the table conclude the Appendix, which gives an ad- 
mirable "Outline of the Results of Old Testament Criticism." The 
whole volume is written in a temperate spirit, at once progressive 
and conservative (1903), 

For a more detailed and complete exhibit, with a grouping 
of dates into main periods, and with an analysis of the literary 
material, assigning particular parts to their respective times, see 
the chronological chart prefixed to Professer C. F. Kent's Student's 
Old Testament (Scribners, 1904). Vol. I. Very valuable. 



CHAPTER V 
THE NEW VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 
Seeing that biblical criticism has given us a new 
and better understanding of the Old Testament, 
we shall be eager to learn what it has to say about 
the New Testament. Nor is its word less clear 
and strong, less instructive and quickening in the 
latter than in the former. The pages of both 
sets of Scripture are more luminous with truth 
and beauty now than ever before, because of the 
increasing light which the lamp of learning has 
shed upon them; and it is our inestimable privi- 
lege to read their divine meanings with a larger 
measure of intellectual and spiritual satisfaction 
than has been vouchsafed to any former genera- 
tion. If we shall but prove worthy of our inherit- 
ance by trying to enter into its full possession and 
proper use, we shall be rewarded by some grander 
outlooks and enriched by some deeper experiences 
than we have dreamed of hitherto. 

The first thing to claim our attention is the fact 
that a close relationship exists between the two 
Testaments. The literary activity of the Jewish 
people continued down into the first century of 
our era, and some of its products may be seen in 
the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, as 
well as in the writings of Philo ^ and Josephus.^ 

1 20 B. C.-40 A. D. ^37-95 A. D. 

120 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 12 1 

The first main collection of Hebrew Scriptures, 
called the Law, had not been canonized until about 
the time of Ezra, or 445-440 b. c. ; the second 
called the Prophets, about 200 b. c. ; and the third, 
called the Hagiographa — including the Psalms, 
the Proverbs, Job, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, the 
Chronicles and Daniel — did not fully receive this 
distinction until about the close of the first Chris- 
tian century.^ While the deep, free and powerful 
spirit of the old Israelitish prophets was wanting 
in the later Judaism, and a narrow, rigid legalism 
took its place, yet on the whole there was some 
progress in thought, and the national faith was 
perhaps more intense than ever. The ideas and 
ideals, the traditions and hopes of the historic 
form of religion were still vigorously maintained 
and v^ere immediately implicated in the origin of 
Christianity. Hence we cannot go far in a correct 
treatment or comprehension of the New Testa- 
ment unless we see its vital connection with the 
Old.* The two fields of inquiry lie side by side; 

8 "After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 a. d., the Jewish 
rabbins established themselves at Jamnia. Two assemblies seem 
to have been heM there; one about 90 a. d.^ the other in 118 a. d. 
At these assemblies, under the presidency of Eleazar ben Azariah, 
the canonicity of the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes was dis- 
cussed. They were finally decided to be canonical, and so the 
third Canon of the Old Testament was closed for the Hebrews." — 
Briggs, Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, p. 130. See 
especially Ryle, Canon of the Old Testament (1892), pp. 198 f. 

* Indeed, the Old Testament alone, apart from the Apoc- 
rypha, is not sufficient for a full illumination of the New Tes- 
tament, See Introduction to the Temple Bible, volume on the 
"Apocrypha, Esdras I and II." 



122 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the critical study of the one collection of sacred 
writings is directly related to that of the other; 
essentially the same principles must prevail in both 
cases ; and in some respects the results in the one 
instance are quite similar to those in the other. 

If, then, it was right to say, in the preceding 
chapter, that the Old Testament Scriptures are to 
be regarded as literature, and are to be studied 
with reference to the history of the people that 
produced them, the same two cardinal rules must 
guide us in dealing, with the New Testament 
Scriptures. Otherwise we shall make little head- 
way in our effort to understand them. Until we 
can look upon them as literary documents bearing 
the peculiar birth-marks of their time, we can- 
not make them seem natural or real, and cannot 
relate them to human life in an impressive and 
truly helpful way. It is one of the principal faults 
of the old-fashioned method of reading them that 
an air of mystery, unnaturalness, unreality has 
been inevitably thrown about them; and it is one 
of the chief services of the new mode of treating 
them that it has steadily insisted upon viewing 
them primarily as the natural products of reli- 
gious minds working normally, influenced by the 
conditions of their age and country, and employ- 
ing language in the ordinary manner of other 
writers. Thus it teaches us to let these works 
speak their own message in their own way, to 
listen humbly and reverently to their slightest 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 123 

word, and to try to find the living reality and 
power with which they are able to touch our 
hearts; leaving whatever divine character they 
may possess or whatever divine truth they may 
contain to be apprehended as a result rather than 
as a beginning of our inquiry. Assuredly we 
ought to have sufficient confidence in their divine 
quality to trust it to attest itself in due time by 
such a procedure on our part. 

Now the period covered by the New Testa- 
ment writings is comparatively brief. Not more 
than one hundred years were required to embrace 
all those creative literary activities which took 
shape in these priceless documents; and most of 
them, and by all means the most important of 
them, excepting possibly the Gospel of John,^ were 
produced within the first century. Of course it 
was the career of Jesus Christ and the work of 
his followers which gave rise to this literature, 
and it constitutes our best source of information 
regarding them and the events connected with 
them. Yet it is not our only source. As in the 
case of the Old Testament, so in that of the 
New, many supplementary works, large and 
small, were written which were never canonized 
as Scripture. Nearly fifty such are still extant, in 
whole or in part; while perhaps as many more 

^ The question regarding the date of the Fourth Gospel, 
whether falling in the last decade of the first century or in the 
first decade (or even later) of the second century, is not yet 
fully settled. 



124 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

have perished, and are known to scholars only by- 
quotations from them or references to them in 
other Christian writings. The chief of those 
which have been preserved may be seen and read 
as the New Testament Apocrypha.^ They are 
interesting and highly valuable for the side light 
which they throw upon the thought and life of the 
early Church; they show, more fully than the 
New Testament alone can doi, the depth and force 
of the Christian movement ; and they serve toi in- 
crease our appreciation of the fact that the New 
Testament writings themselves are to be treated, 
first of all, as literature^ We may be assured, 
however, that these latter are, on the whole, un- 
questionably the best literature culled from the en- 
tire mass — the seed-wheat of the full harvest. 
The law of "the survival of the fittest" prevails 
in the realm of human products, as well as in the 
animal and vegetable kingdoms; and we may be 
confident that the sway of this law has given us 



^ A good English edition is The Apocryphal New Testament 
being all the Gospels, Epistles and Other Pieces now extant, etc., 
not included in the New Testament, London, printed for William 
Howe, 1820. Better is the Temple Bible volume on the "New Testa- 
ment Apocrypha," recent. (London: Dent; Philadelphia: Lippin- 
cott.) 

' Those who would like to know more about this extra- 
canonical literature, and the reasons for its rejection, should make 
some study of the history of the New Testament Canon, a special 
but exceedingly instructive branch of inquiry. For this purpose 
they may consult Westcott, The Canon of the New Testament; 
Julicher, Introduction to the New Testament, pp. 459-566; and E. 
C. Moore, The New Testament in the Christian Church, chap. II. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 125 

the best fruits of early Christianity in our present 
New Testament.^ 

This collection of writings comprises twenty- 
seven different books, large and small — though 
none of them is very large, and several are very 
small. The arrangement of them is familiar : first, 
four fragmentary biographies of Jesus, called 
"Gospels ;" second, an historical book, "The Acts 
of the Apostles," giving some account of the 
spread of primitive Christianity; then, twenty- 
one letters, of which fourteen have been ascribed 
to Paul, two to Peter, one to Jude, one to James, 
and three to John; and lastly, an apocalyptical 
work, called "The Revelation," and ascribed to 
John also. 

Now when and by whom were these books 
written ; how reliable are they ; and what do they 
disclose concerning the origin and primary char- 
acter of Christiani'y? These are the essential 
questions which have engaged the New Testa- 
ment critics in study and controversy for a long 
time. Neither the study nor the controversy is 
yet finished; there are still many unsettled ques- 

8 "As a simple matter of fact, too, we can not overlook the 
immense difference between the New Testament as a whole and 
even the best of the Christian literature of the second century. 
We are interested in the later literature; but it simply does not 
seem to us to possess any such significance as the New Testament. 
However we may explain the difference, we are bound to recog- 
nize the fact. The explanation is perhaps not far to seek — the 
immediate, almost unconscious, reflection of the greatness of 
Christ's own personality." — Henry Churchill King, Reconstruction 
in Theology, 1901, p. 166. 



126 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

tions, as well as wide divergences of opinion 
among eminent scholars. Nevertheless, certain 
grand results have been reached which may be 
fairly regarded as established; and these are of 
such a nature as to give us a general conception 
of the origin and character of the New Testament 
Scriptures so radically different from the tradi- 
tionary conception as to call for its clear presenta- 
tion, in order that it may be understood and 
judged by each reader according to his ability. 

It is impossible, in a single chapter, to consider 
all of the New Testament writings, or to state 
any but a few of the main facts respecting those 
principal portions of the literature which can be 
briefly discussed. These facts will have to be tak- 
en merely as a hint of methods pursued and con- 
clusions indicated in the treatment of the remain- 
ing portions in the numerous works of the biblical 
scholars. 

A preliminary remark should be made: The 
dates, titles, and ascriptions of authorship of the 
New Testament books, as given in the Authorized 
Version, are not very trustworthy. They were 
mainly supplied by copyists, translators, or edi- 
tors, and must be often disregarded. Moreover, 
the fact that a given book is written in the person 
of a certain author is not final proof that he wrote 
it. The New Testament age was not a critical, 
scientific one, and it was no unusual (or, as then 
considered, improper) thing for a writer to attach 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 127 

the name of some distinguished person to his own 
production, in order to draw attention to it.^ 
Such a proceeding was not peculiar to the New 
Testament authors, and it in nowise reflects upon 
their honor. The question of authorship in each 
particular case must be determined by the evi- 
dence.^ ^ 

Now the fact that the gospels come first in the 
New Testament has doubtless led many to suppose 
that they were written first. But they were among 
the latest to assume their present form, and were 
placed first in the existing arrangement of New 
Testament books because of their foremost rank 
in importance, and also because they record the 
life of Jesus, which came first in the history of 
Christianity. The earliest New Testament writ- 
ings were some of the letters of Paul. It is worth 

* "Such writers (apocalyptists) ascribed their ideas to 'Ezra,' 
or to 'Enoch,' or to 'Daniel,' and to other great ancestors. For 
they came easily to fancy that those old heroes had had such 
visions; and when the title 'Ezra' or 'Esdras' was put at the head 
of the composition, it was set there in perfect honesty, and out of 

conviction that this was the will of the great Spirit [A 

writer] would therefore unhesitatingly lay his writings on the knees 
of anyone whom he counted his great hero." — Temple Bible, Intro- 
duction to Esdras I and II, pj.. xix and xx. 

^° "Familiar assumption has obscured to our minds the fact 
that most of the New Testament writings really come to us with- 
out a title-page, destitute of date or author's name, save such as 
late, ambigaous, and often contradictory tradition has supplied. 
Some lack beginning (Hebrews), or ending (Mark). The letters 
of Paul, fortunately, are carefully superscribed with the names of 
author and recipients; but without some idea of the circumstances 
of the correspondence on both sides, they will be scarcely better 
understood than the audible hrlf of a telephone conversation; and 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews, i, 2, and 3 John are 
anonymous." — B. W. Bacon, Introduction to the New Test., p. 2. 



128 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

while to try to recall the circumstances under 
which he began to write. 

I. THE EPISTLES OF PAUL 

Next to Jesus the principal character that 
moves before us in the pages of the New Testa- 
ment is the apostle Paul. Whoi was he ? A bril- 
liant young Jew, a native of Tarsus, a consider- 
able city, in southeastern Asia Minor. His 
Jewish name was Saul, but its gentile equivalent 
or substitute was Paul.^^ It is not likely that he 
ever saw Jesus in the flesh. But he was in Je- 
rusalem not long after the Crucifixion ; and, being 
zealous for the traditions of his fathers, he joined 
his fellow-religionists in an energetic persecution 
of those who embraced the new "heresy." ^^ In 
a short time — it may have been two or three 
years, and it may have been five or six^^ — 

1^ See Acts xiii. 9, and Rams?y, St. Paul the Traveller and 
the Roman Citizen, pp. 81-83, for a reasonable explanation. 

12 Acts xxiv. 14, A. V. 

1^ The following paragraph and table, from Hastings' Dictionary 
of the Bible, will be of service to readers who may not have access 
either to this work or to the other references given: 

"Conclusion. — This article may be concluded by a compari- 
son of the dates here adopted (col. II) with schemes preferred 
by three representative writers — Harnack (col. 1), who throws 
everything early; Lightfoot (col. IV), who throws all the latter 
part late; and Ramsay (col. Ill), who investigates independently, 
but is nearer to Lightfoot than to Harnack. 

H. R. L. 

Crucifixion 29 or 30 29 30 [30] 

St, Paul's conversion 30 3 5-36 33 34 

First visit co Jerus 33 38 35-36 37 

Second visit to Jerus [44] 46 46 45 

First Missionary Journey. . . 45 47 47 48 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 129 

from the Master's death occurred the murder of 
Stephen. The witnesses to this crime ^'laid down 
their garments at the feet of a young man named 
Saul" ^^ — our Saul; who straightway obtained 
official sanction to continue the persecutions, and 
set out for Damascus on the terrible errand. 
While journeying thither he experienced a con- 
version which was the turning-point of his life. 
Upon arriving in Damascus he espoused the new 
faith, and publicly proclaimed Jesus as the 
Messiah. 

PauFs life subsequent to his conversion lasted 
about thirty years — it is impossible to speak with 
precision, partly because we do not know the date 
of his death, and partly because the rest of the 
chronology has not been made out with cer- 
tainty.^^ In a general way it may be said that his 

H. R. L. 

Council at Jerus., 2d M. J.. 47 49 50 si 

Corinth reached late in 48 50 51 52 

Fourth visit to Jerus., 3d 

M. J 50 52 53 54 

Ephesus left 53 55 56 57 

Fifth visit to Jerus., arrest 

at Pentecost 54 56 57 58 

Rome reached early in 57 59 60 61 

Acts closes early in 59 61 62 63 

St. Peter's martyrdom 64 64-65 80 64 

St. Paul's martyrdom 64 64-65 65 67 

Besides the above, see the "Table of Approximate Dates," 

from B. W. Bacon's Introduction to the New Testament, appended 
to this chapter. 

1* Acts vii. 58. 

^^ The chronology of Paul's life is at present under fresh de- 
bate. Recent discussion tends to throw back the year of Jesus' 
death to 30 a. d., or even 29, and to put Paul's conversion at 32 



130 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

public career divides itself roughly into three main 
periods : first, a preliminary period of fourteen or 
seventeen years (according to the reckoning 
which may be adopted), covering his retirement 
at first and his early labors in Syria and Cilicia; 
second, a missionary period of nine or ten years, 
comprising his extended journeys in Asia Minor 
and southeastern Europe; and third, a period of 
captivity, at Caesarea and Rome, occupying four 
years. 

I. Concerning the first of these periods we 
learn most from Paul's own brief, retrospective 
account : 

But when it was the good pleasure of God, who 
separated me, even irom my mother's womb, and called 
me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, th?t I 
might preach him among the Gentiles; immediately I 
conferred not with flesh and blood : neither went I up 
to Jerusrlem to them v. hich were apostles before me: 
but I went into Aiabia; and again I returned unto Da- 
mascus. 

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to be- 
come acquainted with Peter,^* and tarried with him 
fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, 
except James the Lord's brother. Now touching the 

or 33 (as some say), or at 35 or z7 (as others hold). Se« 
article "Chronology," sections 64-80, in Encyclopedia Biblica, Vol. I; 
"Chronology of the New Testament" in Hastings' Dictionary of the 
Bible, Vol. I; Conybeare and Howson's Life and Epistles of St. 
Paul, chronological table; B. W. Bacon's The Story of St. Paul, p. 
88 ("Paul's conversion was certainly not later than 36, when 
Caiaphas was deposed, and probably was several years earlier"). 
Ramsay says the conversion was in 33, and may have been in 32; 
and McGiffert says, 31 or 32. 

i« This is understood by Bacon to mean that Paul went to 
Icarn Peter's story of the life and work of Jesus. See The Story 
of St. Paul, p. 53. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 131 

things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I 
lie not. Then I came into the regions of Syria and 
Cilicia. And I was still unknown by face unto the 
churches of Judea which were in Christ: but they 
only heard say. He that once persecuted us now preach- 
eth the faith of which he once made havoc; and they 
glorified God in me. 

Then after the space of fourteen years I went up 
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with 
me." 

Thus the apostle rapidly sketches the events 
of these early, formative years ; and not much in- 
formation can be gleaned from other sources to 
help us fill in the outline with details. We have 
no letters from him which date from this 
period.^ ^ 

2. It was in the second or missionary period 
that Paul's literary activity commenced, so far as 
his preserved writings enable us to judge. In 
this period were produced his principal letters, 
namely: Thessalonians, Galatians, Corinthians, 
and Romans. The genuineness of II Thessalo- 
nians is disputed, and, as already stated, the chro- 
nology is somewhat uncertain; but, allowing for 
differences of opinion respecting these points and 
also respecting the date and place of Galatians, 

17 Gal. i. 15-24. 

18 For more complete information see Conybeare and How- 
son's Life and Epistles of St. Paul; O. Cone's Paul: the Man, Mis- 
sionary, and Teacher; Lyman Abbott's Life and Letters of Paul; 
McGiffert's Apostolic Age; Ramsay's St. Paul the Traveller and the 
Roman Citizen; Bacon's The Story of St. Paul, more recent than 
any of the above. 



132 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

we may recall the circumstances under which the 
documents just named were produced. 

Paul made three missionary journeys. On the 
first of these, in about the year 47, he set out from 
Antioch, Syria, in company with Barnabas and 
John Mark, the latter's nephew, for a visit to Cy- 
prus, the native home of Barnabas. After a tour 
of the island, in the course of which they met with 
a signal success, at Paphos, in the conversion of 
Sergius Paulus, the proconsul or governor of Cy- 
prus, they sailed thence to the southern coast of 
Asia Minor. Stopping at Perga, in Pamphylia, 
they next visited such places as Antioch in Pisidia, 
Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium in South Galatia; 
then, returning through Pamphylia to the seaport 
town of Attalia, they sailed back home to Anti- 
och in Syria. This first journey seems to have oc- 
cupied between one and two years.^^ Quickly fol- 
lowing it trouble arose in the form of bitter oppo- 
sition from the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, 
who sought to undo Paul's work among the 
churches which he had just established. To coun- 
teract this antagonistic influence and to recover 
his converts from a reactionary tendency, the 
apostle soon wrote his letter to the Galatians^^ 

1® Ramsay thinks it "began in March, 47, and ended about 
July or August, 49." — St. Paul the Travteller and Roman Citizen, 
p. 128. 

^0 Authorities differ regarding the date and place of this. 
McGiffert thinks it was written from Antioch, very shortly after 
the return from this first journey. See his The Apostolic Age. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 133 

— that is, to the churches that he had so recently 
founded in the above-named cities of the southern 
part of the Province of Galatia. 

Within a few months Paul undertook his 
second missionary journey. Passing rapidly 
through Asia Minor to the northwest, he at length 
reached Troas, whence he felt himself summoned 
to go over into Europe ; for the great longing of 
his heart to carry the gospel to the gentiles stead- 
ily increased, and the vision of the Grseco- Roman- 
world won to Christ, and to the worship of the 
God and Father whom Christ had revealed, be- 
came his growing inspiration. So, crossing the 
TEgQan Sea, he began at once to preach in Phi- 
lippi, Thessalonica, and Beroea, meeting with 
gratifying success along with many difficulties; 
and soon he went on southward to Athens and 
Corinth. While at Corinth he learned that some 
of his teachings at Thessalonica had been misun- 
derstood by the friends there, who were anxious 
over certain matters ; and to explain these things 
to them and to counsel them in love, as was his 
wont, he wrote his First Letter to the Thessalo- 
nians, perhaps in the early summer of 50. This 
letter did not fully accomplish its purpose, and 
was soon followed by at least a part of our present 

pp. 226 f. B. W. Bacon assigns this letter to Corinth, a year or two 
later. See his Introduction to the New Testament, p. 280. Both 
consider this as Paul's first letter. For different opinions, consult 
the other references given above. Ramsay {op. cit. p. 192) assigns this 
letter to A. d. 53. 



134 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Second Letter to the Thessalonians. If, as held 
by some, Galatians was written at this same place 
(Corinth) and at about the same time, or a little 
earlier, its purpose was, as stated above, to pro- 
test against the Judaizing influence of Paul's ene- 
mies and against the backsliding of his Galatian 
converts. 

These three letters, then, are the earliest 
Christian writings that we have. They were un- 
doubtedly read in the assemblies of the churches 
to which they were addressed, and probably more 
than once. They were cherished alike for the in- 
struction which they contained and for the lov- 
ing appeals which they made; and they were all 
the more valuable inasmuch as there were no 
other Christian documents then in circulation. 
The story of the gospel had been repeated orally, 
and was spreading far and wide; but the written 
narrative of Christ's life and teaching was not yet 
in existence, and our present four gospels came a 
generation later. 

Within a year or two Paul returned from Cor- 
inth to Jerusalem and Antioch, and then started 
on his third missionary journey. Again passing 
through Asia Minor, and preaching in the western 
*Trovince of Asia," he took up his abode for two 
or three years in Ephesus. From this place he 
wrote his Letters to the Corinthians, about 53 
or 54; although a portion of II Corinthians may 
have been written a little later, from Macedonia. 



NEW^VIEW OFpEW TESTAMENT 135 

Subsequently Paul visited Corinth a second time, 
and Avhile there, perhaps early in 55, wrote his 
Letter to the Romans, one of the longest and 
strongest of his productions. His missionary 
tours were now over. Soon he left Corinth, and 
shortly sailed from Philippi for Jerusalem, where 
he was arrested and taken a prisoner to Csesarea. 

Now from this brief sketch we plainly see how 
the first Christian writings came into existence. 
They sprang out of the earnest life-work of the 
Apostle to the gentiles, to whom Christendom 
is immeasurably indebted; they were issued as a 
perfectly natural means of instruction and ex- 
hortation to meet the peculiar exigencies of the 
time ; and their great author never dreamed that 
they would circulate throughout the world two 
thousand years later, and be almost worshiped by 
the followers of Jesus Christ, for it is certain that 
he did not expect the world to stand two thousand 
years, or even a hundred years : he expected 
rather a speedy personal return of the Savior, 
with a simultaneous cataclysm in the realm of na- 
ture, accompanied by the resurrection of those 
that had "fallen asleep," the "change" of them 
that "remained," and the miraculous inaugura- 
tion thus of the kingdom of God.^^ 

3. The third period of Paul's ministry succeed- 
ing his final visit to Jerusalem, and including his 
detention at C^sarea and his imprisonment at 

21 See I Thess. iv. 13-18; I Cor. xv. 50-54. 



136 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Rome, gave rise to a second group of letters, call- 
ed "Epistles of the Captivity,'' from their fre- 
quent mention of his "bonds" and of himself as 
the "prisoner of the Lord." These are the short 
letters known as Ephesians, Philippians, Colos- 
sians, and Philemon.^^ Concerning at least two 
of these, Ephesians and Colossians, there has 
been much dispute whether Paul was really their 
author, or to what extent they emanated from 
him ; and likewise there have been different opin- 
ions regarding the localities from which and the 
dates at which the several letters in the group 
were wTitten.^^ However these open questions 
may be answered, we may see, if we grant only 
that the documents contain largely a genuine 
Pauline element, that, like the former group, they 
sprang out of the great apostle's life of labor and 
thought. They were born in the soul of a pro- 
found spiritual thinker and a devoted Christian 
toiler. Behind them there stands a living, ardent 
human -friend and counselor ; in them there are 
dominant certain central, sublime ideas, held with 
the strength and joy with which any thoughtful 
man grasps a grand and vital truth ; and through 
them throbs the spirit of a noble love, an unshaken 
faith, and a victorious hope, which only a great 

22 It is held by some that the historical order is probably Colos- 
sians, Philemon, Ephesians, and Philippians. 

23 Professor Bacon, whose treatment commends itself for its 
freshness, insight, and thoroughness, holds that all four are Paul's, 
and were written from Rome in 58, 59, 60. See Introduction to 
the New Testament, p. 280. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 137 

and good man could cherish. Thus the human 
element in them is perfectly real and perfectly 
natural ; time and circumstance have left their in- 
delible impress upon them; and there is no more 
mystery about their origin than there is about the 
ultimate source of any other form of exalted 
thought, unselfish love, and high devotion. One 
of the most inspiring spectacles in this world is 
that of a great soul absolutely consecrated to 
truth, righteousness, liberty, and love. Paul was 
such a one ; and out of his brave life-work, led and 
blessed of God, came those glowing letters which 
have given spiritual light and warmth to all suc- 
ceeding generations. 

Because it is not necessary to the main purpose 
of this chapter to take up all the books of the 
New Testament, the remaining epistles, as well 
as Acts and Revelation, are passed by, and the 
most important works in the whole Bible will now 
claim our attention. Yet the consideration of 
them must be brief and suggestive, while for a 
more extended discussion of the many points of 
interest which they present the reader must look 
to Introductions, Lives of Christ, and kindred 
books. 

II. THE GOSPELS 

The four gospels are said to be "according to" 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, respectively. 



138 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

This phrase does not necessarily mean that four 
persons bearing these names actually wrote these 
documents as they now stand, although such has 
been the general belief. It has been further sup- 
posed that the first and last of these writers, that 
is, Matthew and John, were eye-and ear-witnesses 
of what Jesus did and said, and made record as 
such; and that all the evangelists have presented 
in these four gospels a substantially harmoni- 
ous and particularly trustworthy account of the 
Master's life and work. In what respects the 
new or critical view modifies this conception will 
be indicated by a general, though partial, state- 
ment of the situation. 

The attentive reader cannot fail to observe 
that these four writings are very similar, and yet 
very different. They all report some of the same 
things, sometimes in the same words, and at other 
times in different words; and yet each contains 
some things that the others omit, and omits some 
that the others contain. Especially is the Fourth 
Gospel noticeably unlike the others, in its style, in 
its spirit, and largely in its subject-matter. In its 
literary form and structure it seems more contin- 
uous than the other three, as if it were more nearly 
the work of a single person ; and while it records 
fewer outward events in the life of Jesus, it gives 
us at much greater length certain of his purported 
utterances in the form of conversational dis- 
courses. Besides, it is introduced with a Logos- 



NEW|VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 139 

doctrine not found in the other narratives, and 
throughout it employs the phrase "Son of God" 
in speaking of Christ, while they almost (not 
quite) invariably use "Son of Man." ^^ 

Now how are these similarities and differences 
to be explained ?^^ Modern scholars answer by 
saying that the first three gospels are a compila- 
tion — that is to say, are composite in structure, 
somewhat like the Hexateuch — while the Fourth 
Gospel is mainly, if not entirely, the work of a 
single author; and, moreover, that the said com- 
pilation was made, or begun, under the peculiar 
conditions of Palestinian or Jewish Christianity 
(particularly in the case of Matthew), while the 
other production (the Fourth Gospel) originated 
amid essentially foreign and Hellenic surround- 
ings, in Ephesus or elsewhere. The more one 
considers the facts and arguments adduced in 
support of this general position, the stronger it 
appears to be. Let us look at it somewhat 
closely. 

2* For more explicit descriptions of the peculiarities of this 
gospel, see Cone's Gcspel Criticism and Historical Christianity, chap, 
vii; Bennett and Adeney's Biblical Introduction; also Adeney's How 
to Read the Bible, p. 105; and Bacon's New Testament Introduction. 
The literature on this special topic is very extensive. See ref- 
erences given in these works. 

25 Professor Bacon shows the reality and proportions of these 
similarities and differences thus: "If we represent by one hundred 
the entire contents of all four (gospels), the following table will 
exhibit the relation: Mark has 7 peculiarities, and 93 coincidences; 
Matthew has 42 p.culiarities, and 58 coincidences; Lute has 59 pe- 
culiarities, and 41 coincidences; John has 92 peculiarities, and 8 
coincidences." — New Test, Introduction, p. 176. 



I40 THE APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

After the death of Jesus his followers had no 
immediate occasion for writing anything about 
him. They met often to comfort and encourage 
one another, and they preached to their fellow- 
men the gospel which they had learned from him 
— telling the story of his life, and repeating his 
cherished sayings. He had spoken, not in the 
Greek language, but in the Aramaic; and his ut- 
terances were undoubtedly first written down in 
this native dialect. At the outset they were re- 
hearsed orally, as was the custom among the Jews 
in disseminating the instruction of teachers. It 
was not until the gospel began to spread abroad 
among the gentiles, through the work of Paul and 
others, that the necessity arose for translating the 
Master's words into Greek. This was doubtless 
a gradual process, which took place variously in 
different Christian centers. ^^ In the very begin- 
ning — perhaps for the first twenty years, from 
30 to 50 A. D. — not very much of the gospel 
story and teaching was committed to writing. 
But as the Christian movement grew, the facts 
and truths were needed for the edification of con- 
verts, and the living apostles could not be every- 
where to be appealed to. Their personal testi- 
mony was the supreme authority while they lived. 
By and by, however, they began to "fall asleep," 

2« For a concise and illuminating account of this process and 
its conditions, see the article "Sermon on the Mount," by Clyde 
W. Votaw in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, Extra volume. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 141 

the expected "second coming" was not realized, 
and probably some perversions of the Master's ut- 
terances were early current ; and these various cir- 
cumstances led his friends to make some authentic 
record concerning him. At any rate, it is highly 
probable that certain of his sayings were com- 
mitted to writing within a generation after his 
death, or even a shorter time; and some written 
memoranda of his career began to supplement the 
oral tradition reciting the story of his life and 
teaching. It is generally agreed, or at least it is a 
well-grounded opinion, that two of these primary 
documents constituted an important contribution 
to our first twO' gospels, namely, the Logia or 
Sayings or Words of Christ, written by Matthew ; 
and the Memorabilia of Events in the Life of 
Jesus, said to have been taken down from the 
preaching of Peter by Mark. It is thought that 
the latter of these writings formed the basis of our 
"Gospel according to St. Mark," which was the 
earliest of the four canonical narratives to be com- 
posed ; and that the Logia, by Matthew, furnished 
the basis of our first gospel, and was supple- 
mented by the substance of Mark's work. Fur- 
ther, it is thought that the "Gospel according to 
Luke" was written with all these various oral and 
written sources of information, with perhaps still 
others, before its author. Finally, it is supposed 
that all three of these gospels passed through the 
hands of editors or redactors who gave the finish- 



142 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ing touches to their composition. ^''^ Their precise 
dates cannot be determined, but the latest of the 
three, Luke, is believed to have been completed 
not far from 90 a. d.^^ But of course it should be 
remembered that a specific date like this indicates 
the practical finishing of the work as we now 
have it, and not the production of the written 
''sources" which entered into its final composition. 
It is altogether likely that some of these "sources" 
originated as early as 62-66 a. d. ; so that the 
narrative sketch given in Mark, which is substan- 
tially incorporated in both Matthew and Luke, 
and also the Logia which formed the basis of 
Matthew may be held with entire good reason to 
have been written not later than the sixth decade 
of the first century — that is, within the period of 
a generation from the Master's death. 

If the foregoing account is approximately cor- 
rect, even though simple and very meager, we can 

^"^ For an excellent treatment of this whole subject, with a 
valuable conspectus of present opinion, see Bennett and Adeney's 
Biblical Introduction, pp. 275-327. See also Cone's Gospel Criti- 
cism, and Bacon's Introduction to the New Test.; Burton, Short 
Introduction to the Gospels; Robinson, The Study of the Gospels. 

28 The impossibility of exactly fixing the dates, and the conse- 
quent variety of judgment among critics may be seen from the fol- 
lowing assignments by different scholars, as given by President 
George L. Gary in his volume on the The Synoptic Gospels (Put- 
nams, 1900): Matthew: 66-70, 70, 70-73. 70-75? 85, 96, 130-140; 
Mark: 64-67, 65-70, 65-85, 70-80, 76, 100, 120; Luke: 78-93, 80-95, 
80-105, 95. 1 10. 120. 

Professor Bacon, whose studies are recent and thorough, gives 
the following as his own conclusion, in a "Table of Approximate 
Dates": Mark, Rome, 75-80; Matthew, Jerusalem (?) 80-90; Luke- 
Acts, Antioch (?) 85-95. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 143 

see that, in the language of Professor George T. 
Ladd,^^ these gospels are ''the result of a previous 
process of preaching, writing, hearing, and re- 
flecting ; and they are dependent upon each other, 
and upon common oral and written sources, to a 
degree which it is difficult to determine." And I 
may add that each appears to be an honest attempt 
to set forth such views of the life and teaching of 
Christ as the author believed to be true. There 
is no evidence of fraud or conspiracy on the part 
of these sincere and earnest narrators; and the 
very discrepancies of their respective works, as 
well as the different ways in which they use the 
same materials, prove them to have been actuated 
by upright and loving motives, and so enable us 
to draw near to the majestic Figure whose dignity 
and beauty emerge from their fragmentary rec- 
ords, even as a photograph develops under the 
liquids, lights and shades which the artist em- 
ploys. 

The Fourth Gospel stands by itself, and the 
debate regarding its date and authorship is not 
yet closed. The traditional view has been that 
it was written by John, one of the twelve disciples 
of Jesus, in his advanced age, toward the close of 
the first century, probably in the city of Ephesus. 
On the other hand it has been held to be an alien 
and late production — the work of one not familiar 
with Palestine and Judaism to so great an extent 

2» What is the Bihle? p. 322. 



144 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

as an intimate companion of Christ must have 
been, and to date from the second half of the 
second century. Recent discussion, however, has 
compelled a retreat to at least the early part of 
the second century, by showing that this gospel, 
as well as the Synoptics, was known to Tatian, if 
not to his teacher Justin Martyr, both of whom 
were flourishing by the middle of the second cen- 
tury. The late Professor Ezra Abbot, one of the 
ablest New Testament scholars whom this coun- 
try has ever produced, was a stout champion of 
the Johannine authorship of this work ; and many 
are ready to claim that, since the publication of his 
monograph in 1880, there is no longer much ques- 
tion about the matter. But a large number of 
scarcely less able scholars continue to take the 
opposite side, in spite of his cogent argument. 
Manifestly it is a problem which the unlearned 
cannot solve. For my own part it is difficult to 
believe that John, the son of Zebedee, could have 
written so profound, so philosophical, so spiritual 
a gospel ; yet I can conceive that, residing a long 
time in Ephesus, where the Logos-doctrine was 
deeply rooted and vigorous,^^ he might have been 
so influenced by this form of teaching as to have 
experienced a gradual and complete transforma- 
tion of his intellectual conceptions, and might 
have harmonized his Christian faith with his 
Greek speculation after the manner of the Fourth 

31 See James Drummond's Via, Veritas, Vita, pp. 297 f. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 145 

Gospel. (I am reminded here of a radical and 
profound change which Dr. James Martineau, 
himself an opponent of John's authorship of this 
book, tells us, in the preface to one of his latest 
works, took place in his own mind when, toward 
the middle of his life, he went for a time to re- 
side and study in Europe.) ^^ There is nothing 
impossible in supposing that John may have been 
affected by Greek thought enough to color his 
whole Christology. Besides, his personal experi- 
ence, long and deep — in which meditation, mem- 
ory, disillusionment, and devout love all had their 
work — may have been sufficient to give the writ- 
ing that highly subjective, reflective, interpreta- 
tive character which it possesses. Yet these con- 
siderations are not decisive, and the question is 
still an open one. A view lately advocated with 
ability, by Wendt, Briggs, and others, is that the 
gospel as we now have it is a composite work — 
that is to say, that the substance of the teaching 
which it contains is from John, "the disciple 
whom Jesus loved," while the literary form is 
from another hand, which added some materials 
not derived from the information furnished by 
the aged apostle. ^^ 

31 See Types of Ethical Theory, Vol. I. 

22 "The Johannine problem" is perhaps the most mooted and 
difficult in the entire domain of Higher Criticism. The dicnssion 
is between masters on both sides. Recently two weighty contribu- 
tions to the conservative argument have been made by Principal 
James Drummond in The Character and Authorship of the Fourth 



146 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Such is a glimpse, yet merely a glimpse, of the 
way in which our four gospels came intO' exist- 
ence — by a process of accretion that was pecul- 
iarly vital, personal, and complex. 

Gospel (1903), and by Professor William Sanday in The Criticism 
of the Fourth Gospel (1905). On the other hand, Professor B. W. 
Bacon has presented a strong case for a very different view in a 
series of articles in the Hibbert Journal for April, 1903, January, 
1904, and January, 1905. A fair statement of the two positions 
may be seen in the subjoined quotations. 

Dr. Drummond says in his conclusion: "We have now gone 
carefully through the arguments against the reputed authorship of 
the Gospel, and on the whole have found them wanting. Several 
appear to be quite destitute of weight; others present some difficulty; 
one or two occasion real perplexity. But difficulties are not proofs, 
and we have always to consider whether greater difficulty is not in- 
volved in rejecting a proposition than in accepting it. This seems 
to me to be the case in the present instance. The external evi- 
dence (be it said with due respect for the Alogi) is all on one side, 
and for my part I cannot easily repel its force. A considerable 
mass of internal evidence is in harmony with the external. A num- 
ber of the difficulties which have been pressed against the con- 
clusion thus indicated melt away on nearer examination, and 
those which remain are not sufficient to weigh down the balance. 
In literary questions we cannot look for demonstration, and where 
opinion is so much divided we must feel some uncertainty in our 
conclusions; but on weighing the arguments for and against to the 
best of my power, I must give my own judgment in favor of the 
Johannine authorship." 

Professor Bacon says, in his Introduction to the New Testa- 
ment (1902), pp. 251 ff. : "The Fourth Gospel is the effort of a 
gifted mind, schooled in Phrygo-Alexandrian mysticism and divinely 
exalted in the conscious apprehension of the mystery of the faith, 
to ground the higher Christology of Paul in an interpretation, 
based on partly independent sources, of the ministry and teaching 
of Jesus Criticism .... tends today to admit, as the his- 
torical element of the Gospel, trustworthy data and genuine logia, 
resting on the authority of the son of Zebedee, but is more con- 
vinced than ever of the need for discrimination, recognizing that the 
data have been mingled with less trustworthy material and wholly 
recast, the logia expanded into dialectic discourses, and the work 
as a whole adapted to the author's purpose of theological exposition 
and interpretation, in a manner wholly incompatible with the clear, 
historical recollection of an eye-witness." 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT I47 

What now shall we say about the historical 
value of these precious books ? Are they true, ac- 
curate, precise, and reliable sources of informa- 
tion concerning Jesus Christ and his followers? 
They are sources of information, but they are 
not to be regarded as exact histories — indeed, they 
plainly show that they were written in any but a 
spirit of scientific exactness or correctness. They 
bear nowhere the marks of precise and infallible 
statement; they are loose, fragmentary, compos- 
ite accounts, honestly and lovingly written, of 
what was currently known and believed regarding 
Jesus of Nazareth by the two generations immedi- 
ately succeeding him; but it does not follow that 
every item contained in them was strictly true, 
even though the writers supposed it so; and it is 
perfectly plain to me that many wonder-stories 
about him must have grown up and become inter- 
twined with the narrative of real fact and truth, 
which show at once the credulity of the age, the 
profound impression of Jesus' life and character, 
and che devotion and love of the disciples who 
cherished his precious name and teachings. Nev- 
ertheless they tell us enough about him to enable 
us to gain a clear and trustworthy conception of 
his beautiful life, his heavenly spirit, and his pure, 
simple, blessed gospel. Though we cannot believe 
that he actually said and did everything attributed 
to him in these memoirs, we can believe in him 
more strongly than ever — in his historical reality, 



148 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

in his lofty thought, in his mighty power, in his 
sweet, gentle, unselfish, holy character; and this, 
after all, is the essence and substance of all real 
and true faith in Christ.^^ 

III. DISTINCT TYPES OF CHRISTIANITY 

In concluding this chapter some attention must 
be given to another important aspect of the new 
view of the New Testament, consisting of the 
distinct types of Chris'tianity which it discovers 
within its pages. For not all the books comprised 
in this collection of sacred writings afford us 
either the same conception of Jesus Christ, or 
the same body of doctrines; and very much in 
all of them is quite different from the Master's 
own simple, spiritual teaching. As briefly as pos- 
sible, and in a general way only, the broad char- 
acteristics of the several principal types may be 
here indicated, in their probable historical order. 

I. The writings of the apostle Paul give us 
the earliest interpretation of the gospel, dating 
from the first generation after the Master's death, 
or from the period 47-60 a. d. They shc/w us 
Jesus, not only as the Jewish Messiah, but as the 

33 "In the midst of all the chaotic elements which the flood 
of oral tradition rolled along is clearly discernible an historical 
grouping of salient facts — the appearance of the Baptist, the Galilean 
ministry of Jesus, the healings, the teachings, the travels with the 
disciples, the gatherings of multitudes, the conflicts, Caesarea Phil- 
ippi, the fateful journey to Jerusalem, Gethsemane, the trial and 
the tragedy, the consternation of the little flock, and the myster- 
ious birth of a great hope." — Dr. Orello Cone, Gospel Criticism and 
Historical Christianity (Putnams, 1891), p. 324. 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT I49 

Christ for all the world — a spiritualized Messiah, 
lifted out of and above all national or earthly 
limitations; who in his death on the cross some- 
how satisfied the claims of the Jewish law and for- 
ever cancelled all obligation thereto on the part 
of mankind ; who therefore broke down all middle 
walls of partition between Jews and gentiles ; and 
who opened a new dispensation of heavenly truth 
and grace, spiritual and free, for the whole human 
family. There is thus in these writings the first 
distinct note of universality for Christianity, and 
to their great author, more than to all the other 
apostles, are we indebted for its world-wide mis- 
sion. It is impossible to state Paul's full thought 
about Jesus and his work in a few words. Let it 
suffice, for the present purpose, merely to say 
that he conceived Christ to be the Head of a new 
spiritual order in the world, a "Second Adam," 
the medium of God's gift of the Spirit to mankind, 
imparting eternal (that is, spiritual) life to all 
whoi by faith embrace him. He is thus the "medi- 
ator between God and man," who' must reign 
until all enemies are put under his feet, abolish- 
ing even death itself. As such a mediatorial re- 
gent, he is to return to earth shortly, when a resur- 
rection of "the dead in Christ" shall take place, to- 
gether with a transformation of the living believ- 
ers, each of whom "shall be changed" and be given 
"a spiritual body" "like unto his own glorious 
body;" and "God shall be all in all." 



ISO NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Of the wonderful influence of this PauHne 
presentation of the gospel, not only upon the early 
Church but upon the whole Church in all the cen- 
turies — making for spirituality, vitality, liberty, 
evangelistic zeal, a sublime and serene faith, a 
victorious courage and joy — there is no room here 
to speak. Happy the man who truly understands 
Paul! One need not entirely think the apostle's 
thought in order to appreciate the nobility of his 
character and the salutariness of his great work. 
At any rate it is essential that one should clearly 
perceive his distinctive position if he is to know 
the New Testament as it really is. 

2. Passing over some slight modifications of 
the Pauline view, contained in such writings as 
the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians ; and 
not stopping to try to state the peculiarities of the 
teachings of I Peter, James, Jude, the Revelation, 
and II Peter, we may notice next, among the prin- 
cipal types of Christianity to be distinguished in 
the literature of the New Testament, that of the 
Letter to the Hebrews, whose author is unknown. 
This book gives us a picture of Christ as a super- 
human and pre-existent being — a Son of God, 
"appointed heir of all things," through whom the 
worlds were made, the brightness of the divine 
glory, the express image of the D'/ine Person, 
and upholding all things by the word of his 
power ; but made for a little while lower than the 
angels, thus condescending to be born into our 



NEWiVIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 151 

human world, partaking of flesh and blood so as 
to identify himself with humanity, being tempted 
in all points like as we are, yet without sin, and 
becoming perfect through suffering; ordained to 
be a Great High Priest, sacrificing his body, once 
for all, for the sins of mankind, and entering into 
the holy place in the heavens, where he intercedes 
with God for men; and who, by means of this 
whole experience, tasted death for every man, 
destroying him that had the power of death, that 
is the devil, and so delivering them who, through 
fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to 
bondage. His chief function, thus begun on 
earth and continued in heaven, is to open a life 
of holiness to the children of men through the 
sufficient atonement which he makes for their 
transgressions, and through the assurance which 
he gives them of a "rest" that they may enter 
into if they do not ''draw back unto perd'tion." 
This letter is believed tO' date from about 75-85 

A. D. 

3. In the Synoptic Gospels we find the next 
leading interpretation of the life and teaching of 
the Master, emboding a type of Christianity quite 
distinct from those above indicated. These gos- 
pels, as we have seen, gradually took shape and 
are not to be assigned to precise dates. They 
clearly reflect, however, the facts and views which 
became well established and widely circulated in 
the generation immediately following Paul's 



152 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

death — that is to say, in the period 60-90 a. d. In 
the main the Synoptics present us with Jesus as 
the true Jewish Messiah, spoken of nearly always 
as "the Son of Man," whose Hebrew lineage is 
traced, and who came to '^fulfil the Law and the 
Prophets." This is more especially the emphatic 
note in Matthew, which is pronouncedly Jewish as 
compared with Luke. In all three gospels the 
crucifixion appears to be unexpected, even by 
Jesus himself at first, and unto the very last by his 
disciples; and consequently the resurrection came 
to them (notwithstanding his warnings and prom- 
ises) as a great surprise, marvelously attesting 
him as the Anointed One, indeed. Thereupon he 
became the glorified Messiah, the Redeemer of 
Israel, in a grander sense than any had ever 
dreamed ; and his speedy return "in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory" was thence- 
forth eagerly awaited. There is little in these 
gospels to necessitate any other than a humani- 
tarian view of the nature of Jesus, although the 
supernatural element pervades them in the form 
of God's miraculous providence. 

4. The Johannine type of Christianity, ex- 
pressed in the Fourth Gospel and the Epistles of 
John, exhibits Jesus as the pre-existent "Son of 
God," the divine Logos, descending from heaven 
to earth to reveal the Supreme Father. Being 
"from above" while his associates are "from be- 
neath," he moves among men as a superhuman 



NEW VIEW OF NEW TESTAMENT 153 

personality, having a mysterious power over 
earthly conditions. Yet his humanity is empha- 
sized in the fact that "the Logos became flesh and 
dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the 
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full 
of grace and truth." He came to be **the light of 
the world," redeeming his followers from "dark- 
ness" and giving them "the light of life" — giving 
"eternal life" to all who should believe on him. 
He came in love to disclose the infinite love of 
God, and to establish love as the ruling force in 
human hearts, overcoming sin and filling society 
with the beauty and joy of holy love. At last, 
through his death and resurrection, he returned 
to the glory which he had with the Father before 
the world was, and promised to send the Com- 
forter to lead his disciples into all truth, peace, 
and divine fellowship. The conception and treat- 
ment are exalted, profound, and spiritual in the 
highest degree, and the Fourth Gospel has been 
well called "The Heart of Christ."^^ 

Now it is plain that what we have in these 
several instances is, not merely statements of the 
facts in the life and teaching of Jesus, but also 
theories of his place in the spiritual economy of 
God. The respective writers not only report, but 
they also interpret, explain, philosophize, as best 
they can, for the benefit of their readers; that is 

8* The title of a noble volume by the late E. H. Sears. 



154 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

to say, they construe the wonderful life-story with 
all the knowledge, faith, hope, and love which they 
possess ; and the very fact that they do this, how- 
ever differently, attests the remarkable impression 
which the character of Jesus made upon his friends. 
It is also plain that these various theories can 
not be exactly harmonized, and that we should 
no longer try to harmonize them under the notion 
that all parts of the New Testament must be ex- 
pected to tell one and the same story, to teach one 
and the same doctrine. Rather we must seek to 
go behind each writer's interpretation, and look 
at the facts for ourselves, and put our own con- 
struction upon them in the light of the largest 
knowledge and the most spiritual insight of our 
own time. Then we shall quickly discover that, 
through all readings and misreadings, the great 
Master inevitably makes his own powerful im- 
pression upon us, and that, within the drapery 
with which human thought and affection have 
clothed him, he stands commanding and supreme 
in his moral and religious genius. Because of the 
grandeur of his personality, and because all the 
writings of the New Testament relate to him, we 
may say that the several types of Christianity 
distmguished in its pages do, after all, like com- 
mingling lights in a sanctuary, blend more or less 
perfectly in their influence on our minds and 
hearts as they are suffused by the radiance and 
beauty of his own pure character and spirit. 



NEW VIEWJOF NEWlTESTAMENT 155 

Our little systems have their day; 

They have their day and cease to be; 

They are but broken lights of thee, 
And thou, O Lord, art more than they. 

Note. — Two references may be given for a more ex- 
tended study of the subject considered in the closing 
paragraphs of this chapter; namely, Dr. Orello Cone, 
The Gospel and Its Earliest Interpretations (Putnams, 
1893); and Professor George H. Gilbert, The First In- 
terpreters of lesiis (Macmillan, 1901). 

NEW TESTAMENT CHRONOLOGY 
Table of Approximate Dates ^ 

A. D. 

Galatians, Corinth Spring of 50 

I and II Thessalonians . . . Spring and Summer of 50 

II Cor. 6 : 14 — 7 : i and I Cor., Ephesus . Winter of 53-54 

II Cor. 10:1-13:10, Ephesus Summer of 54 

Fragments of Pastoral Epistles, Troas ( ?) . Autumn of 54 

II Cor., Macedonia Autumn of 54 

Rom,, Corinth February, 55 

Rom. 16:1-23, to Ephesus, from Corinth . . February, 55 

Eph., Col., and Phil., Rome 58-59 

Phil, and II Tim. (additions excepted), Rome ... 60 

Hebrews 75-85 

I Pet., Rome 75-85 

James, Rome (?) 85-90 

Jude, Proconsular Asia (?) 85-90 

II Pet 100-150 

Mark, Rome 75-80 

Matt., Jerusalem (?) 85-90 

Luke-Acts, Antioch (?) 85-90 

Revelation, Ephesus 95 

I, Ilj^and III John, Ephesus 95-100 

John, Ephesus loo-iio 

' From Professor B. W. Bacon's Introduction to the New Testament, p. 
280 (copyright, Macmillan, 1902); by the courteous permission of the 
publisher. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

The facts and views presented in the preceding 
pages compel a restatement of doctrine concerning 
the inspiration of the Bible. The traditional 
thought on this subject does not afford an ade- 
quate explanation of the wonderful variety of 
phenomena now brought before us, just as the 
Ptolemaic astronomy would be too small to fit the 
enlarged heavens observed by Kepler, Newton, 
and Newcomb. We require a more ample con- 
ception of the nature and the method of inspira- 
tion than that which has prevailed heretofore — 
one more comprehensive, flexible, natural, and 
vital, covering a wider range of facts, and imply- 
ing deeper processes of the Divine Spirit in our 
human world. In order to attain, if possible, to 
such a better conception, it is desirable to recall 
the customary ideas, to indicate their sources, to 
show their insufficiency, and then to suggest a 
few considerations which may form at least the 
outline of a more satisfactory view. 

I. As was stated in the second chapter, the 
vast majority of Protestant Christians until lately 
have believed the Bible to have been peculiarly 
and completely inspired ; that is to say, they have 
thought it, in a unique sense, the direct gift of 
God and absolutely infallible. They have deemed 

156 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 157 

it wholly free from error and fault, whether of 

scientific or historical fact, or of moral precept 

and example ; they have regarded it as ''the Word 

of God" throughout, and have held that a denial 

of any portion of it was an invalidation of the 

whole, while an acceptance of any portion was 

an acknowledgment of its entire accuracy and 

binding force. This notion was expressed by 

Theodore Parker, in his day, for the purpose of 

refutation, as follows : 

The Bible is a miraculous collection of miraculous 
books; every word it contains was written by a mirac- 
ulous inspiration from God, which was so full, complete, 
and infallible that the authors delivered the truth and 
nothing but the truth; that the Bible contains no false 
statement of doctrine or fact, but sets forth all religious 
and moral truth which man needs, or which it is possible 
for him to attain, and no particle of error: — that there- 
fore the Bible is the only authoritative rule of faith and 
practice. To doubt this is reckoned a dangerous error, 
if not an unpardonable sin. 

Of course, since Mr. Parker's time, some mod- 
ifications of this view have been brought about, 
especially among those familiar with the methods 
and results of modern biblical criticism; but es- 
sentially it still obtains among the masses in nearly 
all sections of Evangelical Protestantism. It is 
only in recent years and in limited circles that this 
conception of the Bible in general, and of its in- 
spiration in particular, has begun to lose its former 
power. 

The view is, indeed, an ancient one, if not 



158 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

taken too' narrowly. In its main features it pre- 
vailed among the Jews of Christ's time and earlier 
(as respects the Old Testament) ; while, concern- 
ing both Testaments, numerous expressions occur 
in the writings of the Christian Fathers, both 
Greek and Latin, which may be held to support it. 
From Justin Martyr, Origen, Eusebius, Tertul- 
lian, Jerome, Augustine, and from Schoolmen and 
Reformers, may be cited passages setting forth 
opinions of Scripture so exalted as to justify the 
belief, looking at these alone, that they entertained 
the current Protestant idea of the plenary inspira- 
tion and infallibility of the Bible. Nevertheless, 
a fair construction of their various utterances 
shows that they wrote, not in exact language, but 
uncritically and even loosely, and merely recorded 
their general impression of the spiritual power 
and the practical value of the Bible as a whole. 
Certainly the exegetical treatment accorded the 
Scriptures by St. Jerome, for example, in which 
he speaks in quite disparaging terms of St. Paul's 
style, does not comport very well with that idea of 
inspiration which regards the entire Bible as 
divinely given, pure, and inerrant.^ A similar re- 
mark is applicable to Luther's familiar allusion to 
the Epistle of James as "an epistle of straw," and 
to many of his expositions of Scripture, as well 
aj to his customary exaltation of faith and the 
Spirit above the Bible not less than the Church. 

* See Farrar's History of Interpretation, p, 230. 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 159 

Much the same thing may be said of the opinions 
of Calvin and Zwingli, and still more of the lead- 
ers who breathed the freer air of England. 

11. While the generic idea of inspiration is an 
ancient one, by no means confined to the Israelit- 
ish people, and while the remote sources of the 
doctrine of biblical inspiration just mentioned are 
to be found as far back as the age of the Old Tes- 
tament prophets ; ^ while, too, as remarked above, 
the essence of the doctrine prevailed in the last 
two centuries before Christ and in the early cen- 
turies of our era, yet the doctrine did not assume 
its rigid, dogmatic form, both extreme and im- 
perative, until after the Protestant Reformation. 
Then, through the exigencies of the situation — 
the rejection of papal authority, the necessity 
thence arising of having some other court of final 
appeal, and the lack of learning among the lead- 
ers of public thought — resort was naturally had 
to the Bible, and erroneous ideas concerning it 
grew up and became fixed, which is not surpris- 
ing in view of the ignorance of the Scriptures pre- 
vailing among the masses. Says the learned Rev. 
Dr. Tholuck, of the German Lutheran Church: 

In this manner arose, amongst both Lutheran and 
Reformed divines, not earlier, strictly speaking, than the 
seventeenth century, those sentiments concerning Holy 
Scripture which regarded it as the infallible proc action 

2 An excellent discussion of the whole subject is to be found 
in the Ban: j)ton Lectures for 1893, by Professor William Sanday, 
published in a volume entitled Inspiration (Longmans, Green & Co.). 



i6o NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

of the Divine Spirit, not merely in its religious, but in its 
entire contents; and not merely in its contents, but also 
in its very form. In both Protestant churches (the 
Lutheran and the Reformed) it was taught that the 
writers of the Bible were to be regarded as writing-pens 
wielded by the hand of God, and amanuenses of the 
Holy Spirit who dictated, whom God uses as the flute- 
player does his instrument; not only the sense, but also 
the words, .and not these merely, but even the letters, 
and the vowel-points, which in Hebrew are written under 
the consonants — according to some, the very punctua- 
tion — proceeded from the Spirit of God. 

And he concludes a careful historical review by 

saying further, that 

the assumption of an inspiration extending to the en- 
tire contents, to the subject-matter and form of the 
sacred writings, has so little claim to the honor of being 
the only orthodox doctrine, that it has only been the 
opinion of, comparatively speaking, a very small fraction.* 

To the same effect writes Archdeacon Farrar 
in his scholarly and very valuable History of In- 
terpretation : 

It is easy to see how the doctrine arose. Papal in- 
fallibility had been set aside. In the perplexity of opin- 
ions men yearned to substitute some objective authority 
in the place of it, and so to acquire, or to imagine that 
there could exist, respecting every conceivable detail of 
theological speculation, a certitude which, as regards 
such details, is nothing but an idle dream. The Reformed 
and Lutheran Churches having gained — often by heroic 
struggle and through seas of blood — the undisturbed pos- 
session, not only of certain Christian verities, but also 
each of its own special theories ; and, being compelled 

^ Noyes' Essays, p. 66 (American Unitarian Association, i860). 
The entire essay The Doctrine of Inspiration, by Professor F. A. D. 
Tholuck, is a valuable historical contribution, as well as an argu- 
ment for a more liberal view. 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE i6i 

to maintain this heritage of opinion against Anabaptists, 
against Socinians, against Romanists, wanted something 
to which they could appeal as a decisive oracle. They 
made the Holy Scriptures such an oracle, but they made 
the oracle answer them according to their own idols. 
They substituted for its interpretation their own ready- 
made theology. They assumed that the Bible formed a 
homogeneous, self-interpreting, and verbally dictated 
whole, and that the inferences drawn from it by dia- 
lectics and compacted into a technical system were as 
certain and as sacred as itself. In this way a difference 
of exegetical opinion became, not only an intellectual 
error, but a civil crime. Step by step we mark the full 
imposition of this dogma. It was not itself discussed. 
There was no attempt to place it on a scientific basis. 
It was an a priori assumption which was pushed into the 

utmost extreme of unreasonable fanaticism It was 

based, not on exact principles, but on vague assertions 
which floated in the air. The great Reformers, as we 
have seen, never attempted to bind themselves by the 
only consequences of such a doctrine. They used cur- 
rent phrases, but practically they left themselves a wide 
liberty to criticise, not only the separate utterances of in- 
dividual writers, but even the very composition of the 
canon. They preferred to be inconsequent rather than 
to be fettered, and gave to Faith an authority co-or- 
dinate with that of Scripture. But their successors re- 
garded Faith as the exclusive product of Scripture, and 
dependent for its authority on Scripture only. They 
turned the inspiration-dogma into "an iron formula, a 
painful juridical fetter of conscience to be imposed on 
Christians to the detriment of fresh religious life and the 
destruction of the just appreciation of the Bible." * 

III. Seeing, then, that this doctrine is not, in 
the largest sense, historically orthodox, even 
though certain aspects of it have always pre- 

* See pp. 371, 372. 



i62 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

vailed, a presentation of some arguments against 
it may be the more boldly made. 

1. First to be mentioned among these is the 

fact that there is so little positive argument for it. 

As ex-President John Bascom says : 

Its proof is null; it is a pure invention in the face 

of obvious facts No doctrine could be more 

in contradiction of the general providence and govern- 
ment of God than this of final, exact, sufficient, verbal 
truth. None springs from a more complete misunder- 
standing of rational life and religious sentiment, and 
none, therefore, could offer itself to our faith burdened 
with heavier presumptions against it.' 

2. It involves an undisguised distrust of the 
human mind and a depreciation of the religious 
inst'ncts of the human heart. One reason why it 
is maintained is the fear that, if it were given up, 
there would be no end to the skepticism and in- 
fidelity ensuing. It has been supposed that the 
whole superstructure of Christianity might totter 
if it were ever admitted that there are any serious 
discrepancies, inaccuracies, mistakes, untruths, or 
immoralHies in the Scriptures — that everything 
must be definitely and positively settled, or men 
would not know what to believe regarding Holy 
Writ, and would discard religion entirely. In 
other words, if the fence should be let down at a 
single point, the sheep would immediately leave 
the green, fertile pastures, and rush out into the 
arid wastes of the desert, to be destroyed or to 

^Philosophy of Religion, p. 272 (Putnam's, 1876). 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 163 

perish with hunger ! This is the reason of expedi- 
ency—the reason which, at different times, has 
led the Christian Church to oppose the doctrine of 
the earth's rotundity, the Copernican system of 
astronomy, the teachings of modern geology, and 
the theory of evolution ; it has been imagined that, 
if the customary view were abandoned, God 
would be driven out of human life, the whole es- 
tablished order of things would crumble into dust, 
and people would run wild intellectually and re- 
ligiously. As if the Almighty had no more secure 
tenure in this world or in the hearts of his chil- 
dren ! It is good to be able to believe that religion 
is too vital and permanent a reality to be so easily 
overthrown; and we may well heed the remark 
of one of the writers already quoted, that "the 
Christian who can feel his faith certain and out 
of danger only in a diplomatic attestation from 
without, can find peace only by repairing to the 
(so-called) infallible Roman pontiff." ^ 

3. Again, the inequalities of the Bible are in- 
consistent with the mechanical theory of inspira- 
tion here repudiated. Can anyone read the gen- 
ealogical lists of the books of Numbers, Chroni- 
cles, Nehemiah, and elsewhere in the Bible, or 
read many of the ceremonial laws recorded in 
Leviticus, or read the book of Ecclesiastes, or the 
Song of Songs, or the Revelation, and say that 
they impress him as being of equal value, author- 

6 Dr. F. A. D. Tholuck, Noyes' Essays, as before, p. 92. 



i64 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ity, purity, beauty, sublimity, or excellence in any 
other respect, with the wise words of Moses, the 
impassioned utterances of Isaiah, the fine, poetic 
reasoning of Job, the sweet and tender piety of 
the trustful psalms, the eloquent and practical ap- 
peals of St. Paul, the deep-hearted meditations 
and counsels of the loving John, or the spiritually 
divine, life-giving sayings of the Son of Man? 
The truth is that there is the greatest variety in 
the quality of the Sacred Writings, not only as to 
their literary style, but as to their quickening and 
nourishing power ; and it can scarcely be doubted 
that the inculcation of the doctrine in question 
is largely responsible for the lack of intelligent 
discrimination regarding this variety in the read- 
ing of the Scriptures by the common people. 

4. Further, the undeniable existence of dis- 
agreements, mistakes, and errors in the Bible, 
many of which refuse to be reconciled, would ap- 
pear to be a conclusive proof of a larger human 
factor in its production than would be compatible 
with the theory of its plenary inspiration and in- 
fallibility. The erroneous quotations from the 
Old Testament in the New, which are sometimes 
wrongly credited — as, for instance, Matt, xxvii. 
9, where a prophecy that was delivered by Zech- 
ariah is referred to Jeremiah; a circumstance 
which Calvin acknowledged his inability to ex- 
plain, saying, "I confess I do not know, nor am I 
anxious about the matter;" which are sometimes 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 165 

materially altered, sometimes taken from the in- 
accurate Septuagint, and sometimes evidently 
made from memory without respect to exactness 
and precision — these constitute one class of cases 
in point. Another class consists of discrepancies 
between the historians of both Testaments, as be- 
tween the Kings and the Chronicles, or as between 
the gospels; for example, the different wordings 
of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and 
Luke, the different genealogies of Jesus given in 
these two works, the different accounts of the 
movements of his parents after his birth, and the 
different statements about his reappearance after 
his resurrection, not to mention the more serious 
discrepancies between the Synoptics and the 
Fourth Gospel. Then there is the unscientific 
story of creation in the first chapters of Genesis, 
which no scholar can accept as exactly true, even 
when applying poetic license to expand the six 
creative days into six vast cycles of time (and 
what right has one to use poetic license with the 
Bible, if it is such a book as this theory pro- 
pounds?) ; there are the deeds and precepts, the 
examples and teachings, set forth in the Old Tes- 
tament, which no true-hearted man can sanction 
— for instance, the merciless slaughter of men, 
women, and children, as well as domestic animals, 
by the Israelites in the conquest of Canaan, or in 
their feuds with the Philistines, of which we read 
in Joshua, Judges, and Samuel, and which are 



i66 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

there approved; there are also the sins of David 
and Solomon, the skeptical expressions of the 
book of Ecclesiastes, and the vindictive curses of 
the imprecatory psalms — all these facts demon- 
strate the fallible, imperfect, human character of 
many portions of these writings, and render un- 
tenable the doctrine of inspiration here contro- 
verted. These facts are easily enough accounted 
for by another view of inspiration, presently to be 
stated, which makes room for the great principle 
of development in the life of the Hebrew people, 
finding natural expression in the literature which 
reflects the spiritual progress of the nation; but 
the traditional, mechanical theory of inspiration, 
recognizing no such principle, overlooks all such 
progress, and reduces the rich variety of this lit- 
erature to a dead level of sameness. 

5. Finally, if the Bible were miraculously 
written, that is, completely inspired of God and 
made infallible, it would be necessary that it 
should be miraculously preserved, translated, and 
interpreted, in order to be kept free from error 
and misunderstanding ; and this would involve an 
endless succession of inspired human agents and 
teachers. The gist of this truth has always been 
insisted on by the Roman Catholic Church, and 
recognized by not a few other authorities. At any 
rate it is hard to see how one who claims infalli- 
bility for the Bible can gainsay the like claim put 
forth for the great Church that has so steadfastly 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 167 

made it. If one must lean upon a staff in order to 
walk, there is small choice between a crutch and 
a crook. 

The argument against this conception might 
be closed by showing how it robs the Bible of its 
true glory ; how it lies across the path of Christian 
progress as a serious obstacle; and how it hangs 
like a leaden weight on the wings of the free, spir- 
itual, vital gospel of Jesus Christ. But there is 
room only for a brief quotation from Samuel Tay- 
lor Coleridge : 

Let me once be persuaded that all these heart-awak- 
ening utterances of human hearts — of men of like facul- 
ties and passions with myself, mourning, rejoicing, suf- 
tering, triumphing — are but as a Divina Comma dia of a 
superhuman — O, bear with me if I say — Ventriloquist; 
that the royal Harper to whom I have so often sub- 
mitted myself as a many-stringed instrument for his 
fire-tipped fingers to traverse, while every several nerve 
of emotion, passion, thought, that thinks the flesh and 
blood of our common humanity responded to the touch — 
that the sweet Psalmist of Israel was himself as mere 
an instrument as his harp an automaton — poet, mourner, 
suppliant, all is gone; all sympathy at least, and all ex- 
ample. I listen in awe and fear, but likewise in per- 
plexity and confusion of spirit.'^ 

In conclusion, the words of Archdeacon Farrar 

may be profitably heeded : 

Whoever was the first dogmatist to make the terms 
"the Bible" and "the Word of God" synonymous, ren- 
dered to the cause of truth and of religion an immense 
disservice. The phrase in that sense has no shadow of 
scriptural authority. It occurs from three to four hun- 

' Noyes' Essays (i860), p. 99. 



i68 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

dred times in the Old Testament, and about a hundred 
times in the New; and in not one of all those instances 

is it applied to the Scriptures The formula of the 

Reforrhation in its best days, like that of the Church 
of England, was not, "Scripture is the Word of God," 
but, "Scripture contains the Word of God." * 

IV. Rejecting, then, this theory of the plenary- 
inspiration and infallibility of the Bible as erro- 
neous and unwarrantable, and as a burden upon 
the spiritual life of the Christian Church, what 
have we left and what position shall we take? 
The answer is at hand, clear, positive, and cogent. 

Let us begin by saying that the Bible is to be 
regarded as literature first of all ; for the various 
writings of which it is composed are literary pro- 
ductions before they can be anything else to us. 
If we ask what kind of literature, the answer is 
that it is religious literature, pervaded by a reli- 
gious spirit, full of religious ideas, thoughts, con- 
victions, and principles; regarding and treating 
nearly all its subjects from a religious standpoint; 
that is, as related to the existence, providence, and 
government of God. If we ask, moreover, how 
this literature came to be so intensely religious, 
the answer is that its authors were strongly reli- 
gious men; that is to say, were possessed, in- 
fluenced- dominated by a deep and powerful reli- 
gious spirit, which made it as natural for them to 
write in a religious vein as it is for a true poet to 
write poetry or a true singer to make music. Still 

8 History of Interpretation, p. 369. 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 169 

further, if we ask how those authors came to be 
so profoundly and keenly religious, the answer 
again is, that the race to which they belonged, that 
is, the Hebrew, a branch of the Semitic, was pre- 
eminently characterized by the depth and strength 
of its religious life, by its development of an 
earnest sense of a moral order in the universe, so 
that the religious ideas, convictions, and spirit, as 
well as the ethical ideals, cherished by the repre- 
sentative men in Israel were more or less the com- 
mon property or quality of all the members of the 
nation. And now if we ask how that race, par- 
ticularly the Israelitish portion of it, came to be 
so very religious, the answer may be unhesitat- 
ingly given by saying that God made them reli- 
gions, partly in that general way in which he has 
made all men religious by nature, and partly in 
that special or peculiar way in which, through a 
long educative and disciplinary providence, he 
trained and fitted them, developed and quickened 
them, to preceive and understand spiritual truth. 
This position, when clearly apprehended, will be 
seen to be susceptible of natural, easy, and satis- 
factory establishment. 

I. For, in the first place, we cannot doubt 
that all men are naturally religious. The univer- 
sality and the spontaneity of the religious senti- 
ment, expressing itself in all manner of temples, 
shrines, ceremonies of worship, creeds, doctrines, 
and devotions, are a sufficient outward proof of 



I70 NEW APPRECITAION OF THE BIBLE 

this ; and the consciousness of a worshipful frame 
of mind, a native sense of reverence, a feehng of 
dependence and awe, an upward-looking and 
yearning spirit, is the inner complement of this 
evidence to attest the depth, strength, and natural- 
ness of the religious instinct in the human soul.® 
Hence we may say that the Israelites, like all other 
men, were religious by nature, just as surely as 
they were rational and affectionate by nature. 

2. We may hold that the providence of God 
concerned them, as it concerns all men every- 
where. It compassed them as a nation and as in- 
dividuals ; or, rather, the interests of both were at 
once subserved by that perfectly wise and benef- 
icent government which was exercised over them 
and is exercised just as really and plainly over us. 
That government may not have been special and 
particular in the sense that it was unusual and 
irregular — certainly we are not to think that it 
was intermittent or capricious. We must con- 
ceive that the ends which the Almighty contem- 
plates for men and nations are sought and gained, 
in the main if not entirely, by the perfect working 
of those general and blessed laws which he has 
ordained for all his children, and which operate 
with impartiality and inexorableness everywhere. 
Yet we are never to forget that our God is an im- 
manent God, indwelling in humanity — "one God 

» See Dr. Daniel G. Brinton's Religions of Primitive Peoples 
(1898), chap, i; also Selleck's The Spiritual Outlook (1902), pp. 
137 ff. 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 171 

and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in all." ^^ Therefore we can never limit 
the power of the Divine Factor in human life. Be- 
cause God is not outside of the world alone, but 
within it, we may be sure that he is its animating 
and guiding Spirit far more frequently and to a 
vaster extent than we may ever perceive. For this 
reason we may often comfort ourselves by saying 
of our own city and country, as well as of Jeru- 
salem and Judea, "God is in the midst of her : she 
shall not be moved : God shall help her, and that 
right early." ^^ And so we are to believe that he 
was the ruling and directing Presence in the hearts 
of the children of Israel long ago, and slowly 
wrought out his own great purposes in the com- 
plex affairs of their national life. If there is war- 
rant for believing that in the drift, tendencies, 
events, and developments of our time, here in 
America, in Great Britain, in Germany, in Italy, 
in Russia, in the Far East, God is the Supreme 
Providence, working out through good and ill his 
wise and gracious plans, whose remote and stu- 
pendous issues we can but dimly apprehend ; there 
is warrant for thinking likewise of ancient Rome, 
Greece, and Israel; in each case, the divine en- 
dowment of faculty to serve the divine purpose, 
being somewhat different from that of others, 
and in the case of Israel being specially and pre- 
eminently religious. 

10 Eph. iv. 6. 11 Ps. xlvi. 5. 



172 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

3. This conception grows upon us when we 
look more closely at the history of the nation. Re- 
member the humble condition from which the peo- 
ple rose — a rude, nomadic life at first, and then a 
period of slavery in Egypt. Consider the char- 
acter of the country in which they settled — Ca- 
naan — with the mountains on the north, the desert 
on the east and south, and the Mediterranean on 
the west, shutting them in from surrounding 
tribes, and helping them to develop a strongly 
marked individuality. Reflect how, under these 
circumstances, their peculiar religious ideas, par- 
ticularly their monotheistic faith, gradually in- 
tensified and at length became all-dominant. Bear 
in mind the moral and spiritual influence of their 
wisest, purest teachers, appearing in every gener- 
ation to exalt their ideals, to reprove their way- 
wardness, to urge upon them the divine behests of 
their holy faith. Estimate thus the place and serv- 
ice of that unique and remarkable class of men, 
the prophets, who labored to guide the nation in 
the ways of righteousness, which are the ways of 
a deepening and broadening religiousness. Then 
measure the significance of the nation's contact 
with the great powers, Syria, Egypt, Assyria, 
Babylonia, and Persia; how it tried, tested, and 
disciplined the proud, suffering children of Abra- 
ham; how it broadened their outlook upon the 
world; how it strengthened their ethical and re- 
ligious passion, when, in their adversity, Jehovah 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 173 

was their only Refuge and Solace; how, too, it 
both corrupted and enriched their traditional 
faith ; and how the Nation was born a Church in 
the throes of these varied experiences. When all 
these facts and features are duly studied, we 
clearly see that the result which was at last pro- 
duced was inevitable — the development, out of 
such racial material of an increasingly distinct 
and profound type of moral-religious life. Fi- 
nally, let it be said again that, supplementing 
these varied processes of education and discipline 
running through the ages, we are to remember 
the constant, in-dwelling power of God — that God 
himself touched the hearts of the people, stirred 
within them, penetrated their consciences, 
prompted them to one course of action or another, 
swayed, guided, inspired them, working in them 
to will and to do of his good pleasure. Surely all 
this seems reasonable to be believed of the im- 
manent and infinite Spirit, and is the very soul of 
that vast movement out of which came, in the 
course of centuries, the full-grown religion of the 
Israelitish people. 

4. Now, out of the abundance of this religious 
life, so characteristic of the nation, that literature, 
those utterances and writings, of which our Bible 
is the garnered remains, sprang forth, just as all 
literature is produced, with all its human imper- 
fections, limitations, errors, but full of the deep, 
earnest, holy thought and spirit which gave it its 



174 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

priceless value. And so the Bible today is simply 
the literary deposit of that full tide of religious 
life which laved the shores of Israel two thousand 
and more years ago — that life which was fed and 
led and blessed of God ; which was developed un- 
der his providence through many centuries; and 
which gave birth at last tO' the great Teacher for 
whom the ages had toiled and waited, the Son of 
Man, the Revealer of the Father, the Prince of 
Peace, from whom the whole world may receive 
Israel's best and highest gift, increased and made 
divinely beautiful by his own deep, pure, unerring 
insight into the things of the spiritual life. 

This view of inspiration is natural, simple, ra- 
tional, and vital; accounting for all the errors in 
the Bible, and for all its glorious truths; sparing 
us the necessity of apologizing for anything ; sav- 
ing us from those violent distortions of language, 
those far-fetched explanations, that unscientific 
exegesis, which, if not amounting to actual pre- 
varication, do at least sap one's intellectual integ- 
rity ; and giving to us that freedom of contempla- 
tion and study in which are life, strength, growth, 
and joy. 

In conclusion a little space may be taken for 
pointing out some of the specific benefits which 
may be expected to accrue from an adoption of the 
foregoing conception. 

I. It will have the effect to transfer the basis 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE I75 

of religion from the Scriptures to the human soul ; 
to make men see that reHgion is a greater fact than 
the Bible; to show them that religion is not the 
product of Scripture, but Scripture is a product of 
religion ; to exhibit religion as a natural, deathless 
reality, as deep as the human heart and as eternal 
as the grace of God ; to teach men that the natural 
is more wonderful than the miraculous; and, 
above all, to bring God out of the remote past, 
into the living present, and near to the soul of his 
every child, opening the way of spiritual approach 
and communion without the intervention of a 
sacred book. 

2. It will take the wind out of the sails of that 
arrant skepticism which has spread itself and 
flourished by virtue of its assaults on the misun- 
derstood Bible. The doctrine which this chapter 
has antagonized invites such assaults; and, now 
that the science of historical and biblical criticism 
and the progress of the physical sciences have put 
into the hands of its enemies so many weapons, 
they are able to use them with very destructive ef- 
fect. But when a more natural and rational con- 
ception shall be inculcated, which shall regard the 
Bible, not as a single, homogeneous work, not as 
a textbook of science or of systematic ethics, not 
as claiming for itself any infallibility; but as a 
mass of literature whose language is fluid, free, 
various, like all living language, not to be inter- 
preted in a hard-and-fast literalism, but rather in 



176 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

accordance with a true literary instinct — when 
some such position as this shall be taken, it will 
effectually spike all the guns of that skepticism 
which has flaunted its banners over its great vic- 
tories in discovering "the mistakes of Moses !"^' 
3. Another effect, scarcely less important, will 
be to free the Bible from that arbitrary usage to 
which, unfortunately, it has been too often sub- 
ject. Those familiar with the vagaries and eccen- 
tricities of scriptural exegesis, from the rise of 
Rabbinism among the Jews and of AUegorism 
among the early Christians down to the Millen- 
ialism and the Christian Science of our own time, 
will see the significance of this advantage.^ ^ By 
false methods of interpretation, or the absence of 
all method, the Bible has been made to teach 
almost every conceivable doctrine, and to support 
many a terrible wickedness^^ — slavery, polygamy, 
and the subjection of woman ; and the tap-root of 
all these erroneous teachings, darkening counsels, 
and unholy sanctions has been the idea of the ple- 
nary inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures. 
When this idea shall fade out of the popular mind, 
being replaced by the more valid conception here- 
in The title of one of the late Colonel Ingersoll's popular works. 
1^ Again let the reader consult Farrar's History of Interpreta- 
tion, first and second chapters. 

1* "In religion 
What damned error but some sober brow 
Will bless it and approve it with a text, 
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament?" 

— Shakespeare. 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 177 

in advocated, some of the perversions and absurd- 
ities of religious doctrine will pass away which 
have claimed, and still claim, their tens of thou- 
sands of adherents ; some hoary superstitions and 
cruelties which have darkened our world will dis' 
appear; and opportunity will be afforded for the 
upspringing of a fairer, more beneficent type of 
religion and civilization. 

4. The remark just made leads us a step fur- 
ther. Perhaps the most valuable result of all will 
be to place the emphasis in our religious teaching 
and work, not upon the letter which killeth, but 
upon the spirit which giveth life. The great es- 
sence and priceless excellence of the Bible is 
its spirituality, its intense, living, palpitating, 
mighty, ethical and religious energy. It is this A 
that makes it breathe, and makes us breathe, if 
we let it. And surely it is this vital and vitaliz- 
ing spirituality that we need in our religion to- 
day, to feed the hearts of men and wake the 
music of a new, divine life within them. "God is 
Spirit, and they that worship him must worship 
in spirit and truth." Our churches contain too 
many dead, perfunctory formalists, narrow dog- 
matists, hollow traditionalists, dry rationalists, 
mechanical revivalists; all "having a form of 
godliness, but denying the power thereof." 
What they all need, and what alone can lift 
them out of the slough, is the quickening of a 
living spirituality by the Great Spirit that 



178 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Speaks through the Bible and in many other 
ways. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our 
spirit that we are the children of God" — the most 
real and certain testimony we can have. "The 
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things 
of God;" and "he that is spiritual judgeth all 
things, yet he himself is judged of no man." 

Now the Lord is that Spirit, and "where the 
Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." "Every- 
one that is born of the spirit" is like "the wind, 
which bloweth where it listeth," that is to say, is 
not confined, subject to human control or limita- 
tion, whose life is not bottled up in a sacred book 
any more than in a sacred church, thence to be 
drawn forth and inhaled upon the prescription of 
some theological doctor. The man whose reli- 
gion is real and true is he whose soul is alive and 
throbbing with God's own spirit ; and this kind of 
religion is not wholly dependent upon any creed 
or church or set of sacred writings, although it 
may be vastly helped and nourished thereby. 

There have been three great periods in the 
history of the Bible when Paul's assertion that 
"the letter killeth" has been abundantly verified; 
namely, that of the strict constructionists of the 
Judaism of the last few centuries before Christ; 
that of the hair-splitting Scholastics of the Mid- 
dle Ages ; and that of the narrow Protestant dog- 
matists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- 
ries. Let us hope that the time has now come when 



INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 179 

"the spirit that maketh alive" is rising, like a 
mighty tide, in our churches, bringing liberty, 
light, and divine power upon the bosom of its 
sparkling waters, flowing in from the boundless 
ocean of the Infinite Love. If such shall prove to 
be the case, we shall find that the free, spiritual 
religion thus prevailing will both promote and be 
promoted by the vital conception of inspiration 
above sketched. Moreover, we shall find that this 
type of religion and this conception of inspiration 
make room for the progress of biblical scholar- 
ship, and cannot be disturbed by the most thor- 
ough research or discussion. For the only essen- 
tial question involved in the whole problem of the 
origin and character of the Bible is identical with 
the one great, essential question involved in the 
life of the world today, namely, the question of an 
in-dwelling Divine Power; and the more traces 
of the presence and operations of this Power 
which may be discovered in any race or age, the 
broader and more solid will be the foundation 
upon which the Christian spiritualist can erect the 
temple of his faith, hope, and love. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 

The new learning regarding the Bible calls, 
not only for a restatement of the doctrine of in- 
spiration, but also for a reconsideration of the 
kindred question of revelation. In what sense 
is it true that "the Holy Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testaments contain a revelation of the 
character of God, and of the duty, interest, and 
final destination of mankind" ? ^ If the Bible is 
''the Word of God," or "contains God's true 
Word," how does that "Word" express the Di- 
vine Mind, and how does such an expression differ 
from the disclosures afforded by "the Book of 
Nature"? This is a question with which any 
valid, critical treatment of the Bible must deal 
seriously. 

The answer hitherto given to this question has 
been dennite, positive, precise; but it no longer 
satisfies because it is now seen to be too simple, 
naive, childlike. In ancient times, when the gods 
were thought to be more numerous, nearer to the 
earth, and more human than subsequently, and 
were supposed to participate in all important mun- 
dane affairs, it was easy to believe that they spoke 
directly with men. The history of antiquity is 
full of their imagined doings and sayings. The 

1 Winchester Profession of Faith, adopted 1803. 
180 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE l8i 

primitive Israelites, still polytheistic, shared the 
universal ideas in this respect ; and when they de- 
veloped at length a pure monotheism, they re- 
tained, if they did not even increase, their con- 
viction that Jehovah their God not only ruled "in 
the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants 
of the earth," but also communicated his messages 
and mandates to whomsoever he would. Know- 
ing nothing of secondary causes, the Almighty 
was the immediate cause of every significant oc- 
currence : it was he that hardened Pharaoh's 
heart, he that turned the tide of battle, he that 
raised up and threw down potentate and priest; 
likewise it was he who prompted and imparted 
the utterance of lawgiver and prophet, wise 
teacher and psalmist. God, to the Hebrew, was 
"in His world," as well as above it, not exactly 
in the same sense, and yet as really and vividly as 
to us — perhaps even more so ; and "the Lord said," 
or "the Lord spake unto me, saying," were ex- 
pressions more frequent and natural than they 
can possibly be to our modern thought. 

In view of this general attitude of mind, it is 
easy to understand how the writers and speakers 
in the Old Testament era should have believed 
very sincerely in a divine inspiration and revela- 
tion; and likewise how, in the later centuries of 
Judaism, vv-hen their deliverances were gathered 
up and canonized, "the Scriptures" should have 
been regarded as the direct gift of God, holy and 



i82 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

flawless. Speaking of the various titles by which 

these "Scriptures" were designated at about the 

time of Christ, Professor W. Sanday says : 

It is common to all these titles that they indicate a 
Divine origin. And this is a point which may be illus- 
trated with overwhelming abundance. There can be no 
doubt that it was a rooted idea among the Jews of the 
first century, both Hellenistic and Palestinian, that the 
Scriptures of the Old Testament came from God. Philo 
expresses this in the most uncompromising manner.^ 

Professor vSanday further shows that Josephus 
and the Jewish doctors had precisely the same 
view as to the divine source of these Scriptures, 
and that the New Testament reflects it also in its 
allusions to the Old Testament. And when, in 
the course of the first four Christian centuries, 
the New Testament writings came tO' be put upon 
an equality with the Old, it was inevitable that 
the same general conception of their supernatural 
character should attach to them — indeed, this was 
the very reason for their canonization as "Scrip- 
ture." 

Now this ancient and traditional conception, 
inhering somewhat in the Bible itself, and reach- 
ing us unquestioned, in the main, until the rise 
of the present critical era, has educated popular 
Christian thought to consider both Testaments 
as a divine revelation in much the old primitive 
sense. Of course it has been modified more or 
less, but substantially it still prevails among the 

2 Inspiration, pp. 73 f. 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 183 

Christian masses, and is fairly stated in this 

brief passage from a recent book : 

According to it [popular theology], it would seem as 
if there existed before the foundation of the world a 
certain number of divine truths, all absolute, none rela- 
tive. A page of these truths, so to speak, was given to 
Abraham, another to David, another to Hosea, another 
to Paul. The complete collection of these revelations 
constitutes the Bible. In ' accordance with such a view, 
revelation is always absolute, of equal value for all 
time.' 

Deeming such a conception mechanical, and 
not in harmony with what we know to be the 
natural workings of the human mind; deeming 
it also inconsistent with a true view of the Scrip- 
tures as literature, because tending to obliterate 
all traces of variety in them, we must seek to 
formulate a better conception of revelation, more 
justly explaining the ways in which the Bible may 
be said to disclose the Divine Mind to mankind, 

I. Let us start with the fundamental thought 
that, if the universe is really divine, its divineness 
may be expected to manifest itself somehow to 
spiritual beings capable of apprehending divine 
truth. This ought to be obvious without much 
argument. If a world is orderly and rational, its 
order and rationality must be discernible by deni- 
zens having a natural sense of order and endowed 
with reason. If the planets are actually governed 
by mathematical laws, those laws must be cogniz- 

3 Burton and Mathews, Principles and Ideals for the Sunday 
School (University of Chicago Press), p. 41. 



i84 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

able, in part at least, by beings possessing a math- 
ematical cast of mind; and the point is that such 
beings do not read their mathematics into the 
firmament, but rather merely discover the math- 
ematical principles already established there. Sir 
Isaac Newton did not create gravitation ; it was a 
pre-existent reality, and he at length perceived it. 
So we may say of beauty; the artist does not put 
it into the landscape, but recognizes it when he 
finds it already there. So we may say of good- 
ness and love in human life; wherever they really 
exist, they manifest themselves soon or late to 
other good and loving hearts. It all resolves 
itself into a question of reality. The primary 
ground of any knowledge on the part of man is 
the assumption that knowledge is possible, that 
is to say, that the universe is intelligible, that real- 
ity can be apprehended. If, then, the universe is 
divine as well as intelligible, that is, if it is spirit- 
ual, having a spiritual order and spiritual mean- 
ings, its spirituality may be expected to manifest 
itself, sometime and in some degree, to spiritual 
beings inhabiting it.^ 

a) Man is such a spiritual being. He thinks, 
feels, wills, knows; conscious intelligence is the 
highest form of knowledge which he experiences ; 
and consciousness testifies daily to his spiritual 
nature, while such testimony is corroborated by 

* A friend adds: "The recognition of any quality implies the 
community of both recognizer and recognized in that quality. If 
no divineness in man, he could recognize divineness nowhere." 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 185 

all the observations and tests which he can make 
in the lives of his fellovz-men. If he can be sure 
of anything in this world, he is sure that he is a 
spiritual being by nature. This is an ultimate 
postulate of thought; he can neither flout it nor 
go beyond it. 

b) As such a spiritual being, man finds traces, 
hints, indications of an existing divineness in the 
universe. He does not make them or read them 
into the universe, any more than the sensitive be- 
holder makes or puts into the cathedral the solem- 
nity which so quickly impresses him as he enters 
the sacred building. The beholder finds the so- 
lemnity because it is both there and in himself, and 
because he is therefore able to recognise it. So 
man as a spiritual being perceives a divine char- 
acter upon the face of the universe because it is 
there and because there is such divineness in him 
that he is able to recognise it there. If any given 
person should deny its existence, he would only 
confess his inability to preceive it, as a man color- 
blind might dery tie beauty of a rose. 

c) Thus detecting, here and there, hints and 
fragments of an existing divireness. man is for- 
ever trying to interpret them, trying to read the 
strange language (yet not wholly strange) writ- 
ten all over the earth and sky. He is like Cham- 
poHion, who patiently deciphered the trilingual 
inscription of the Rosetta stone, in the early part 
of the nineteenth century; or like the host of 



i86 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

scholars who have been translating the cuneiform 
writings on the clay tablets of ancient Assyria and 
Babylon; only that the hieroglyphs in which the 
Divine Mind has written the story of eternal wis- 
dom, goodness, and love in the Book of Nature, 
in human history, and in the inner experience of 
the individual heart are a living language^ as fresh 
and inspiring today as "when the morning stars 
sang together., and all the sons of God shouted 
for joy." 

d) Spelling out a few words of this divine 
language, or a few sentences of this divine story, 
man becomes increasingly convinced that there 
are larger, deeper, higher meanings yet to be ap- 
prehended than he has ever dreamed of; that he 
has scarcely learned the alphabet of this marvelous 
medium by which the spiritual element in his own 
soul may enter into the spiritual treasures of the 
universe ; and that he has only to press on, in pa- 
tience and love, to discover vaster, more beautiful, 
more benevolent purposes and methods in the di- 
vine constitution and order of the world than eye 
hath seen, or ear heard, or the heart of man con- 
ceived. And so, with growing assurance and joy, 
he says with Browning — 

This world's no blot for us 
Nor blank; it means intensely, and means good: 
To find its meaning is my meat and drink. 

e) But one more thought must be borne in 
mind in this connection, namely, that man is lim- 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 187 

ited in his discernment of the divine meaning of 
the universe by his own limited capacity. You 
can get no more out of a foreign language than 
you are able to read ; you can get no more out of 
an opera than you can understand and appreciate ; 
and if in either of these cases you get nothing, 
the fault is not in the language or the opera, but in 
yourself. How much of man's thought, love, 
learning, plans, and purposes can be apprehended 
by the domestic animals? A little bit, we are 
sure; yet how very little! Going a step higher, 
let us consider how meagerly a child may grasp 
its father's knowledge, intentions, hopes, or even 
affections; or a pupil his teacher's learning; or a 
half-civilized negro the culture of an Emerson or 
a Curtis; or a coarse, wicked sensualist the ex- 
alted, pure, unselfish, spiritual insight and ideal- 
ism of the Christian saint. In each instance the 
limitation lies upon the inferior soul — his eyes are 
holden, that he cannot see. So every man's ap- 
prehension of the divine significance and glory of 
the universe is inevitably and inexorably limited 
by the limitations of his own spiritual capacity. 
He can have as much sunshine as he can take 
and enjoy; as much truth as he can understand; 
as much goodness and love as he can appropriate 
and appreciate; as much of the Divine Life as 
his own life can contain and manifest. 

2. Now we are prepared to see how God may 
be reasonably supposed to be seeking to disclose 



15» NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

himself to his spiritual children. Not only are 
they forever seeking to apprehend more and more 
of the divine meaning which flits before them and 
invites their reocgnition; but he whoi put the 
meaning there, and is himself its Source and End 
and Explanation, is likewise seeking to tell them 
as much of himself as they can understand. At 
least this is a familiar and congenial thought to 
the Christian. If we are warranted in conceiv- 
ing of God as "a Divine Mind and Will ruling the 
universe, and holding moral relations with man- 
kind," ^ it is easy to think of him as perpetually 
expressing himself in and through the govern- 
ment which he thus maintains, thereby putting 
himself in the way of being apprehended by those 
of his finite creatures who have acquired sufficient 
intelligence to recognize some traces of his in- 
dwelling existence. If we go a step further and 
characterize God as paternal, we must see that 
his love for his children is only another name for 
an infinite yearning for recognition and commun- 
ion — a yearning that is immeasurably deeper and 
purer in him than it can. be in us, and that con- 
stantly broods over us and solicits our answer- 
ing knowledge and love. Even as the parents 
and teachers of Helen Keller strove, with an in- 
effable affection and patience, to make some sign 
by which she should understand their love and 
their thought, in other words, sought earnestly 

•5 Dr. James Martineau's expression. 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 189 

to communicate with her ; so may we beHeve that 
God — so must we beHeve, if he is to us the God 
and Father of Jesus Christ — is continually seek- 
ing to make known his thought, goodness, and 
loving-purposes to us, his earthly, spiritual, shut- 
in children. 

This waiting desire of God's universe to reveal 
its secrets to the human mind is well expressed in 
Mr. Lowell's lines — 

We trace the wisdom to the apple's fall, 

Not to the birth-throes of a mighty Truth 

Which, for Ic.ig ages in blank Chaos dumb, 

Yet yerrned to be incarnate, and had found 

At last a spirit meet to be the womb 

From which it might be born to bless mankind-— 

Not to the soul of Newton, ripe with all 

The hoarded thoughtfuln^ss of earnest years. 

And writing but one ray of sunlight more 

To bljssom fully.® 

3. Granting so much, we have next to note 
how God makes use of the outward world to reveal 
somewhat of himself. On the field of the material 
realm, in the midst of which we dwell for a time, 
and to which we sustain relations of vital depend- 
ence, he displays, in infinite abundance and vari- 
ety, evidences or expressions of his presence and 
character, which are to be learned by us. Like 
pupils entering the high school from the lower 
schools, and finding upon the walls of the new 
rooms maps, charts, diagrams, pictures, and quo- 
tations from foreign languages, all of which are 

8 A Glance Behind the Curtain. 



190 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

strange and cannot be understood at first, but 
whose meaning will become known in the course 
of study; so we, pupils in the great school which 
is the world, are surrounded with wonderful sym- 
bols which convey some fragmentary message of 
the Divine Father's loving thought, or some re- 
flection of his transcendent wisdom and glory, 
and these we are slowly to learn to interpret 
aright. Doing so, we pass "through nature to 
God" by "thinking God's thoughts after him." 

If we ask zvhat the outward world reveals of 
God or about him, the answer may be indicated, 
in part at least, by these words, namely : "Power," 
"order," "life," "wisdom," "goodness," "beauty." 
These terms which the human mind employs to 
designate what it perceives in the world are but 
so many names of the varied manifestations of 
that inscrutable Essence which the scientist calls 
the all-pervading Energy of the universe, which 
the mystic calls the immanent Spirit, and which 
the Bible calls the living God. The name is of 
slight consequence, the Reality is everything ; and 
the Absolute Reality can be, at best, very imper- 
fectly apprehended by us through the veil of ma- 
terial phenomena. 

4. When, however, we press a little more 
closely and consider how God makes use of the 
human realm to reveal himself, v/e see all these 
manifestations taken up and carried to a higher 
stage, bringing us more nearly face to face with 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 191 

the Eternal Father. For in this realm we find a 
new series of phenomena, denoted by such words 
as "intelligence," "will," "virtue," and "love." 
It is only in rudimentary form, if at all, that these 
qualities appear in the lower realm, the realm of 
nature ; but here, in the higher realm, the human, 
spiritual realm, they are so abundant, so distinc- 
tive, and so exalted as to be dominantly character- 
istic; and along the loftier ranges of the human 
world, as exhibited in a Plato or a St. Paul or a 
Dr. Martineau, we find ourselves confronted by 
facts and forces wholly transcending the utmost 
reaches of the physical domain. In the presence 
of such ideas, thoughts, and garnered learning, 
such aspirations, affections, and fine discernments, 
such disinterested benevolence, such august sanc- 
tions, such holy passion as we witness in the great 
and good who have crowned our world with glory 
and honor, we read a new language telling a new 
story of the Indwelling Spirit that seeks by these 
additional signs to communicate with our minds 
and hearts. Thus do these spiritual traits, appear- 
ing in human life, indicate the Greater than these 
that is their Source; and thus "the Spirit itself 
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the 
children of God." "^ As the products of man's 
creative genius — as in the case of the artist, the 
poet, the dramatist, the musician — prove the real- 
ity of his talent, and partly express his ideals and 

'^ Rom. viii. i6. 



192 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

his character, and yet do not exhaust his power, 
but rather increase it; so do these spiritual phe- 
nomena of the human world prove the existence of 
God, partially express his character and his dis- 
position toward us, and yet leave his resources of 
wisdom and love unexhausted and infinite in their 
plenitude. 

5. Now are we not ready to consider how God 
may employ races of men to express or reveal 
different phases of his thought, or to present dif- 
ferent aspects of his educative, disciplinary provi- 
dence ? As a teacher in the school may use a cer- 
tain class of pupils to show what may be accom- 
plished in the study of language, and may use 
another class to show what may be accomplished 
in the study of music, and still another to show 
what may be done in drawing and painting; so 
the Great Teacher, Almighty God, may endow 
and inspire certain races of men in such ways 
as to enable them to show what may be achieved 
along lines of intellectual and aesthetic culture, or 
along lines of social organization and power, or 
along lines of moral and religious insight and in- 
Eaence. And in each of these cases the results 
wrought out may be justly held to indicate, not 
only what human nature is capable of, but also 
what is in the purpose of the Over-ruling Mind. 
As the workmen, skilled and unskilled, who are 
employed in the erection and adornment of a noble 
building, like a cathedral or the Library of Con- 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 193 

gress in Washington, show not only what they 
can do, but reveal even more clearly the concep- 
tion and will of the architect who designed and 
planned it all; so do the various peoples of the 
earth, in working out through the ages their 
natural tendencies and achievements, show, not 
only their own potentialities, but even more 
remarkably unfold and exhibit the beneficent 
thought and the stupendous plan of the Supreme 
Architect of the universe. Thus does human life, 
on a vast scale, in its slow, evolutionary develop- 
ment, reveal the wisdom and goodness of God; 
and with intelligence, as well as with reverence 
and gratitude, the devout heart may sing: 

He rules the world with truth and grace, 

And makes the nations prove 
The glories of His righteousness, 

And wonders of His love. 

It is in the light of this large view of the sub- 
ject that we are to interpret spiritually the mis- 
sion of Greece, to show the world the excellence 
of knowledge and beauty; of Rome, to show the 
excellence of social order; of Israel, to show the 
excellence of morality and religion; and of them 
all to "'declare the glory of God" and to work out 
his vast des'gns for the ultimate blessing of the 
whole family of mankind. 

Considering the case of Israel particularly, we 
see how striking and significant are the facts. 
Although we may reasonably hold that all men are 



194 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

by nature moral and religious beings, it was given 
to the Hebrew people to exhibit these traits in an 
exceptional degree. With them the ethical in- 
stinct became at length a passion for righteous- 
ness, and the religious sentiment became a fervent 
spirit of holiness, trusty and love that survived all 
"shocks of doom.'* Beyond any other people 
known to history, they felt the presence of God 
and the moral character of his government of the 
world. To say that he impressed himself and his 
justice and goodness upon them, more deeply than 
upon others, is but to claim that he was active in 
this part of his v/orld in peculiar or special ways. 
— as, indeed, he is active in other realms and in 
different individuals in yet other peculiar ways. 
Genius is wonderfully diversified; no two poets 
or musicians are exactly alike; and why should 
any two races be identical in their apprehension 
and experience of divine truth. One flower dif- 
fers from another flower, even as "one star dif- 
fereth from another star in glory ;" but all flowers 
and all stars reveal the beauty and wisdom which 
the Creator has embodied in these forms of ma- 
terial nature. So does the Hebrew race, in its 
historical development, apprehend and therefore 
unfold or disclose the higher aspects of moral and 
religious truth, what it means to feel the power of 
righteousness and the presence of God. To that 
race as a whole, and to many an individual mem- 
ber of it, the Great Spirit, the living God, seemed 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 195 

more real and potent, more august and holy, more 
merciful and paternal than to any other people in 
all the world. It is not too much to say that he 
drew especially nigh to them, impressed himself 
especially upon them, and so moved or wrought 
within them as to make them singularly aware of 
the divine and holy character of the life to which 
they were prompted to aspire, "The spirit of 
man is the candle of the Lord," and the Lord 
lights it! "There is a spirit in man, and the in- 
spiration of the Almighty giveth him understand- 
ing" — gives him insight, apprehension, apprecia- 
tion. How this is done we cannot tell, any more 
than we can tell how it is given to the poet to sing 
his songs, or the philosopher to grasp the pro- 
foundest truth, or the mother-heart to love and to 
know by loving what is pure and good. The 
mystery of mysteries is the in-dwelling of the di- 
vine in the human : how, then, shall we attempt to 
define it ? We touch the border of the infinite life, 
and we understand and explain only as we learn 
by experience. But assuredly every heart that has 
thus learned to feel and know the presence and 
power of God, however imperfectly, can easily be- 
lieve that he may have manifested himself to seers 
and prophets in the olden time with exceptional 
potency and fulness, and that he may have so 
wrought upon and within the Israelitish people as 
to justify the psalmist's remark, "He hatb not 
dealt so with any nation." 



196 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

It is this providential dealing with the He- 
brews, as a whole, this progressive experience 
which they had in moral and religious ways, this 
growing apprehension on their part of the divine 
meaning of conduct, of human existence, of the 
worlds and the ages^ — it is this, taken largely, that 
constitutes God's revelation of himself to them; 
and out of all their experience, their thoughts and 
feelings, their mistakes and sins, they produced 
that wonderful literature which expresses their 
deepest life, and thereby expresses whatever meas- 
ure of God's spirit and purpose he was able to put 
into them. 

In what, then, does the substance or essence of 
the biblical revelation consist? In the words of 
another, *'is it the history of the cosmos, the 
origin of man, the Israelites in the wilderness, 
the conquests of Joshua, the levitical priesthood, 
the exploits of Samson, the deeds of Saul ? Does 
it forecast the future ; tell of a kingdom that shall 
pass away, of a deliverer that shall come? Does 
it announce the end of the world, a final judgment, 
an ultimate salvation and reprobation? Do we 
read it literally in the texts of Judges and Isaiah 
and Ezekiel, in the genealogies of Matthew and 
Luke, in the colloquy of Mary and Elizabeth, in 
the rhapsody of Zacharias, in the arguments of 
Paul, in the visions of the Apocalypse?" ^ Such 
has been the common belief. But a better concep- 

8 A. W. Jackson, James Martineau, pp. 259, 260. 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE IQ? 

tion is that which is at once more simple and more 
comprehensive; namely that the substance or 
essence of the revelation lying back of the Bible 
and contained in it is thejelf-disclosiire of God tq_ 
the spiritual consciousness of man — the self-dis- 
closure of God in his moral character and as a 
gracious Providence; a disclosure made in a 
marked degree to the Hebrew people because they 
were remarkably qualified to receive it; a disclos- 
ure, nevertheless, which, in some degree, is made 
to all his earthly children. As Dr. Martineau 
finely says, this 

self-disclosure of Gk)d to the human spirit .... carries 
in it the consciousness of a present Infinite and Eternal, 
behind and above as well as within all the changes of the 
finite world. It brings us into contact with a Will be- 
yond the visible order of the universe, of a Law other 
than the experienced consecution of phenomena, of a 
Spirit transcending all spirits, yet communing with them 
in pleadings silently understood. But it recites no his- 
tory; it utters no sibylline oracles; it paints no ultra- 
mundane scenes; it heralds neither woes nor triumphs of 
"the latter days." ' 

If we recognize this great central truth as the 
very heart of the biblical revelation — God's im- 
pression of himself, in his moral character and as 
a gracious Providence, upon the Hebrew people — 
we immediately find room for the principle of 
development J and can readily allow for all crudi- 
ties and errors in the apprehension of divine 
truth on the part of the Israelites. That is to 

^ Seat of Authority in Religion, p. 311. 



198 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

say, we see that the revelation was progressive; 
there was a progressive seeking after God by the 
most spiritual men of Israel ; and there was a pro- 
gressive intensifying of God's presence and power 
among them, and a progressive unfolding of his 
purposes regarding them and the world, from age 
to age. As we trace this spiritual evolution in 
the Bible, we see how the Hebrew race was led 
gradually from lower to^ higher ideas^ and ideals ; 
how polytheism and anthropomorphism prevailed 
among them in the beginning; how at length 
monotheism! triumphed, and Jehovah became 
spiritualized, and righteousness and mercy came 
to be more important than wars and sacrifices. 
So we behold, in the long history covered by the 
Old Testament, a grand moral and religious de- 
velopment which becomes an example and an in- 
terpretation of the religious evolution of the en- 
tire human family. In the light of it we see that 
what Israel learned of morality and religion, of 
God and his government, all men everywhere are 
in process of learning, more or less thoroughly, 
and always will be in some stage of that process ; 
so that the Bible, which grew out of the ethical- 
religious experience of that particular race, in its 
particular historical setting, will always speak 
with some great measure of truth and power, to 
the hearts of all other men and women regarding 
divine things. Thus the God who drew nigh to 
Israel draws nigh to us and to all men in the in- 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 199 

telligent, sympathetic reading of those ancient 

Scriptures which are the literary record of his 

providential dealings with that "peculiar people;" 

and the words of President Henry Churchill 

King are entirely justified : 

Here in the Old Testament we come into fellowship 
with the real God, who is the creator of the real world 
and acts in the real course of history. Not an imagi- 
nary God, a dream God, a God of mystic contemplation 
or of metaphysical speculation, but the real God of real 
life and history — Israel discerned. This is the glory of 
these books, and the secret of their sanity and perma- 
nence and power as well. To be quickened ourselves, 
therefore, by the faith and vision of God of these old 
prophetic spirits, whatever their Hmitations, and then to 
be able to see for ourselves in this history of Israel the 
presence of God, by his own revelation in us — this is 

the supreme office of the Old Testament This is 

the self-evidence of the Old Testament — God speaking 
through it." 

It remains only to remark that the divine reve- 
lation in the Bible culminates in the character and 
teaching of Jesus Christ. What elsewhere is seed 
and root, in him becomes flow^er and fruit. In him 
are fulfilled ''the Law and the Prophets," not, in- 
deed, in any literal sense, but most sublimely in 
a vital and spiritual sense. In him were realized 
the purest longings of the best men of his own 
nation in its pathetic yet morally glorious history 
of nearly two thousand years. At the same time, 
although "a Hebrew of the Hebrews," he was 
singularly independent of race and country and 

^° Reconstruction in Theology, p. 149. 



200 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

age in his thought and spirit. As Dr. Henry Van 
Dyke has well said : 

He was not a commentator on truths already re- 
vealed. He was a revealer of new truth. His teaching 
was not the exposition; it was the text. And this higher 
revelation not only fulfilled, but also surpassed, the old; 
replacing the temporal by the eternal, the figurative by 
the factual, the literal by the spiritual, the imperfect by 
the perfect. How often Jesus quoted from the Old Tes- 
tament in order to show that it was already old and in- 
sufficient; that its forms of speech and rules of conduct 
were like the husk of the seed which must be shattered 
by the emergence of the living germ ! His doctrine was_ 
in fact a moral and intellectual day-break for the world,,. 
He did far more than supply a novel system of conduc- 
tion for an ancient light. He sent forth from himself a 
new illumination, transcending all that had gone before, 
as the sunrise overfloods the pale glimmering of the 
morning star set like a beacon of promise upon the coast 
of dawn His teaching is neither ancient nor mod- 
em, neither deductive nor inductive, neither Jewish nor 
Greek. It is universal, enduring, valid for all minds and 
all times. There are no more difficulties in the way of 
accepting it now than there were when it was first de- 
livered. It fits the spiritual needs of the nineteenth, as 
closely as it fitted the spiritual needs of the first, century. 
It carries the same attractions, the same credentials in 
the Western Hemisphere as it carried in the Eastern. 
It stands out as clearly from all the later, as it did from 
all the earlier, philosophies. It finds the soul as in- 
evitably today as it did at first. ^^ 

We see, then, that the divine revelation impli- 
cated in the Bible consists, not in any particular 
form of words, howsoever written or by whom- 
soever uttered, but rather in the record which it 

11 The Gospel for an Age of Doubt, pp. 191, i93- 



DIVINE REVELATION IN THE BIBLE 201 

presents of man's — specifically the Hebrew man's 
— spiritual experience in a growing apprehension 
of God's presence and power, of his moral char- 
acter and gracious providence, culminating at last 
in a vision of his absolute paternity, as portrayed 
in the teaching of Jesus Christ; all of which 
means, on the other side, a constant seeking by 
the Eternal Spirit to break into the minds and 
hearts of his earthly children with the glorious 
light of his own ineffable truth and love, to prompt 
and guide them, to restrain and correct them, 
to discipline and develop them, and so to bring 
them to know and love and enjoy him, and then 
to make him known to other and more backward 
souls, among all the nations, throughout the ages, 
and in all the world! It is thus the revelation 
of God to man ; the revelation of man to himself ; 
and the revelation of the spiritual constitution, 
meaning and destiny of that cosmic process by 
which our humanity has come into existence, and 
by which also it will be ultimately "delivered out 
of the bondage of corruption into the glorious 
liberty of the children of God." 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY OF 
THE BIBLE 

In what sense and to what extent is the Bible 
authoritative in matters of faith and morals? 
This is the most vital question involved in these 
chapters. Indeed it is the one essential question 
lying at the heart of all the discussions of our 
time concerning the Scriptures. We may ascer- 
tain what the Bible is in its external history and 
its inner nature ; we may give a reasonable account 
of its inspiration and the character of the reve- 
lation which it affords; and we may proceed to 
show its practical uses and value: but all this is 
merely relative and incidental to a true estimate 
of its authority. What every thoughtful person 
wants to know, and what current study is seeking 
to determine, is the sense in which and the extent 
to which the Bible solves the great problems of 
religion, life, and destiny ; how far it tells us, and 
how far it is to be trusted in telling us, what reli- 
gion really is, what and whence life is, whether 
and what God is, whether there is a future for the 
human soul and of what kind, together with the 
doctrines that must be believed and the practices 
that must be observed to insure our highest wel- 
fare. We are asking — thousands of honest and 
serious minds today are asking — Does the Bible 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 203 

really solve these problems at all ? If so, how and 
how far? And he who can answer this question 
wisely and justly will render one of the best pos- 
sible services to his fellow-men in the present state 
of the world's thought and feeling. 

Now it may seem presumptuous for me to 
attempt to answer so great and grave a question. 
But each man's best thought is his best contribu- 
tion to the progress of the race ; and therefore he 
should put it forth, modestly but earnestly, to 
be confirmed or corrected by the inevitable growth 
of knowledge. Nor can a conscientious religious 
teacher evade the duty of serious thought upon so 
sharp an issue as we are here to confront. If we 
are to keep a firm footing and a clear vision amid 
the changing faiths of our time, so that we may 
lead the perplexed and the skeptical to a new and 
more valid trust in the great spiritual verities, and 
may be able to appeal to the indifferent with an 
effectual persuasiveness in behalf of a noble reli- 
gion, we cannot avoid the most searching inquiry 
into the very nature of the soul's best assurances 
respecting things divine. To fail at this point 
is to fail everywhere, soon or late. We must 
know what we believe and why we believe, if we 
are to help others to believe at all. The impor- 
tance of the present subject lies in the fact that it 
touches the deep foundations of our Christian 
faith, hope, and love. 

Evidently the first thing to be done is to as- 



204 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

certain the meaning of this word authority. We 
want to know what we are talking about when we 
speak of the Bible or of any person as having 
authority. Therefore let us ask what this term 
really denotes. 

Like most of our important words, this con- 
tains a variety of ideas. From among the six dif- 
ferent shades of meaning given by the Century 
Dictionary I select, as concerning us, these three : 
First, power or admitted right to command or 
act; as the authority of parents over their chil- 
dren, the authority of an agent to act for his prin- 
cipal. Second, the power derived from opinion, 
respect, or long-established reputation; influence 
conveyed by character, office, station, mental su- 
periority, and the like; as when we speak of the 
authority of a distinguished jurist or scientist or 
historian or physician, in his special line of 
thought and work. Third, that to which or one 
to whom an appeal or reference may be made in 
support of any opinion, action or course of con- 
duct ; as when we speak of the testimony of a wit- 
ness or the weight of that testimony; the credi- 
bility or reliability of an historian ; the importance 
of the judgment of a certain scholar; the value of 
the decision of a court. As examples illustrative 
of these various significations we may take such 
familiar instances as these: A shareholder in a 
stock company has been authorized, and therefore 
has authority, to vote for absent shareholders in 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 205 

a business meeting ; that is to say, power, consist- 
ing of liberty and right, has been given to him for 
this purpose. Again, an eminent speciaHst in the 
treatment of certain diseases is considered an 
authority in all such cases: that is, his opinions 
carry so great a weight as practically to settle the 
question for others. Once more, in matters of his- 
tory we state certain things on the authority of 
ancient writers like Herodotus or Josephus or Eu- 
sebius or Plutarch; that is, these writers are our 
sources of information, and we take their word 
with whatever degree of confidence we repose in 
them, according as that confidence has been pro- 
duced by acquaintance with their works and tests 
of their utterances. 

Now we perceive running through all these 
different shades of meaning the one idea of power 
— power to rule or act, power to command respect 
and confidence, power to convince of truth; and 
therefore I think they all may be gathered up into 
one comprehensive definition by saying that the 
word authority denotes power to influence the 
mindj in one way or another. Especially is this 
the case when we speak of the Bible or of any per- 
sonage in it as having authority : we mean that it 
or he has power to command our assent, our ac- 
ceptance, our belief, our compliance. If we say 
that the Bible is an authority in religion, we mean 
that, in some way, it has power to form, sway, and 
guide our religious thought, feeling and conduct ; 



2o6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

originating, it may be, or at any rate shaping, our 
beliefs respecting God, sin, retribution, salvation, 
right living, and final destiny. 

But what is the precise nature of this power, 
and whence does it arise? Here we come to the 
parting of the ways, where we shall find two dif- 
ferent conceptions producing two quite opposite 
attitudes. 

I. There is the conception of authority in its 
objective aspect, as mainly an outward affair. 
For instance, the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic 
Church claims for itself authority — that is, 
power; that is, liberty and right and ability — to 
determine what is true and obligatory in matters 
of faith and morals ; and that authority is looked 
upon and heeded by every loyal communicant in 
the great ecclesiastical household as external in its 
nature, having been derived from; the apostles 
who received it from Jesus Christ. This is the 
kind of authority that is possessed by every priest, 
bishop, or superior potentate in the Church of 
Rome, and to' some extent in other churches; an 
authority conferred upon those receiving and ex- 
ercising it, and imposed upon those who must obey 
it. It is essentially the same sort of authority as 
that which is possessed by the Czar of the Russias, 
or by any other political monarch — the authority 
of dictation. An example of it in the Bible may be 
found in the case of the Roman centurion who 
said to Jesus : *T am a man under authority, hav- 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 207 

ing soldiers under me ; and I say to this man, Go, 
and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he 
cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he 
doeth it." ^ This is the kind of authority which is 
possessed by every officer in an army — the power 
to command and be obeyed. 

Now those who ascribe this objective author- 
ity to the Bible necessarily conceive it in such an 
outward fashion, as a power to be imposed upon 
the mind of its docile, unquestioning recipients. 
They look upon the Bible as a great pronuncia- 
mento, as a declaration and promulgation of the 
thought, will, and purpose of the Almighty, tO' be 
accepted without hesitation and to be obeyed with 
alacrity. Accordingly they are prepared to be- 
lieve anything and everything that the Bible says, 
because the Bible says it. Their position is virtu- 
ally that of the little boy who argues with his 
playmates: "It's so, for ma says so; and if ma 
says so, it's so if it ain't so !" There are thousands 
of people who have reasoned in this way regard- 
ing the Bible, just as there are thousands more 
who have reasoned likewise regarding the Roman 
Catholic Church : they have practically said : "It 
is so, for the Bible or the Church says so; and if 
the Bible or the Church says so, it is so, no matter 
how clearly science or experience may prove the 
contrary." People have argued this way about 
geography, astronomy and geology, about slavery 

1 Luke vii. 8. 



2o8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

and wine-drinking, about capital punishment and 
the subjection of woman, about the existence of 
the devil and an everlasting hell. Because they 
have thought their views on these subjects were 
taught in the Bible, and because they have had 
this conception of the authority of the Bible, they 
have believed in such views and persecuted those 
who did not. It is this conception of the author- 
ity of the Bible which leads people to call the 
Sacred Volume ''the Word of God" ''from back 
to back" or "from lid to lid ;" and they regard all 
criticism or dissecting of the Bible as the lifting 
of unholy hands against the oracles of the Most 
High. 

2. There is the other conception of authority 
in its subjective aspect as mainly derived from an 
inner experience. For instance, you have a friend 
whom yovL revere and love; who is so great and 
noble, SO' pure and true that he instinctively and 
irresistibly attracts and holds your admiration, 
respect, confidence, and affection ; who awakens in 
your soul such a feeling of sympathy, such a har- 
mony of spirit, that all your finest affections go 
out to him, and you honor him, trust him, love 
him, and are happy in his presence. He does not 
ask such rich spiritual gifts from you, much less 
command them ; but he gets them without asking, 
because he wins and deserves them by virtue of 
his own inherent worth. Therefore he has power 
over your soul — the very best and highest kind 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 209 

of power — not so much by trying to have it, by 
exerting himself, as by simply being and being 
known to you. The diamond does, not command 
our aesthetic love by saying anything, but by 
simply being a diamond and lying still before us 
in all its purity and perfection. The lily likewise 
does not request us to smile and rejoice when our 
eyes fall upon its delicate structure and sweet 
beauty; but we do this instinctively because we 
scarce can help it, because its own intrinsic loveli- 
ness meets and wins our delighted admiration. 
So it is with any great literary production, any 
true poem, any fine work of art, any noble deed, 
any lofty and lovable human character ; its own in- 
trinsic excellence has power to win us to itself, 
to awaken within us and draw out from us the 
best thought and feeling of which we are capable. 
Such is always the power of real excellence in any 
form — real worth, real beauty, real goodness, 
real love; it makes its own sure impression upon 
the human soul ; and in contrast with it how poor 
and hollow are all counterfeits, all falsehoods, all 
shams, all affectations, by whatsoever artifices 
they may be foisted upon us ! Who does not know 
the difference between these ? Who does not feel 
himself capable of detecting that difference ? You 
know, by your own intuitions, without anybody's 
telling you, whether the love of your affianced is 
true love, whether your friend's professed friend- 



2IO NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ship is sincere, whether your minister's piety is 
genuine or affected. 

Now this spiritual power over the human soul 
is the highest kind of power and the truest form 
of authority in all the world. Let us think of the 
father and his child. That father has a natural 
and proper right to command his child, and the 
physical ability to coerce him into obedience. But 
suppose he command and coerce him unright- 
eously and in anger; the child may, indeed, obey, 
but will he not obey under protest and with an in- 
ward sense of wrong that rebukes the father, and 
makes both father and child know that an in- 
justice has been done ? And is such obedience ever 
worth one-half so much as that which the father 
secures through right and reason and patient kind- 
ness, winning the child's full respect, honor, con- 
fidence, and love, and thus the free self-surrender 
of his own will in glad acquiescence in the father's 
will, which the child feels to be just and holy? 
Alas that we do not know more of this power of 
righteousness and love ! But we know enough of 
it to know that it is the highest and truest power 
in the world. The laws of the land, with their 
executive agencies, may compel me to submit to 
some inherently unjust, iniquitous regulation, like 
the old fugitive slave law, for example; but such 
power over me can never equal in worth or effi- 
ciency that of an inherently righteous law which 
my own conscience approves. Therefore no law 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 2il 

can ever be really strong that is not grounded in 
righteousness; no government on earth can be 
permanently secure that is not established in 
justice and truth ; and those governments must be 
most stable and happy, in the long run, which, like 
our own, "derive their just powers from the con- 
sent of the governed." 

This spiritual power over the human soul was 
the kind of authority which Jesus possessed. It is 
said of him that the people "were astonished at his 
doctrine; for he taught them as one having au- 
thority, and not as the scribes." That is to say, 
he did not repeat to them, at second hand, the 
letter of the Jewish law, in a formal or perfunc- 
tory manner ; but declared to them the truth of di- 
vine things, fresh and living, from out of the 
depth and purity of his own spiritual insight, and 
with such evident sincerity and earnestness that 
his utterances carried conviction to the hearts of 
the people, and awoke within them an approving 
response which made them feel like saying, if they 
did not actually say, "Amen and amen! This is 
indeed the Christ! This is that Prophet that 
should come! Thou art a Teacher come from 
God!" 

And this is precisely the kind of authority 
which Jesus possesses in the world today — the 
authority of convincing power, the power to win 
the assent of the mind, the approval of the con- 
science, the love of the heart, and the sanction 



212 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

of the spirit. No other authority in all the world 
is comparable to it. It is like the silent power of 
the sunshine in the material world, that melts the 
iceberg, warms the earth, lifts the waters of ocean, 
lake and stream into the air, calls the grasses and 
flowers into life, and spreads beauty and fruitful- 
ness everywhere. It is the authority or power of 
inherent spiritual excellence, bearing its own 
weight, making its own impress, winning its own 
sweet way among men, gaining the admiration, 
gratitude and affection of the soul, softening the 
hard heart, removing prejudice, overcoming 
wrath, rebuking, correcting, purifying, and in- 
vigorating the whole spirit and character. Where 
else shall we find such a power ? No king, prince, 
or potentate, no military officer, no ecclesiastical 
dignitary ever possessed any such power except in 
so far as it was really of this kind ; that is to say, 
no power different from this ever equaled it in 
effectiveness. And what authority do we more 
readily acknowledge? before what law do we 
more reverently and gladly bow than before "the 
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus" ? There 
is no sway on earth today like the sway of this 
majestic Prophet of Nazareth, the principles and 
spirit of whose teachings and character are gradu- 
ally achieving their victories over sordid, sinful, 
selfish, afflicted men and women, making them to 
aspire, to be generous and pure, to hope and love, 
to be patient, gentle, and strong. And yet all this 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 213 

sway is only the influence of intrinsic spiritual ex- 
cellence, embodied in the Son of Man and uttered 
in his spoken gospel. That Son of Man and that 
gospel are authoritative, that is, are of binding 
force, to you and me simply and only by virtue 
of their convincing power over our souls. If they 
have no such convincing power, they are not au- 
thoritative; but if they have, then we do actually 
acknowledge their authority, and in consistency 
ought to comply with it in all our conduct. 

Now, in so far as the writings of the Bible 
possess any authority at all, it is of this spiritual 
kind. Theirs is not the authority of dictation, but 
the authority of conviction. Their power over the 
human soul is no less and no more than their 
power to win the assent of the mind, the approval 
of the conscience, the love of the heart, and 
the sanction of the spirit. And they do this 
through no factitious means. They have this^ 
power, not because they are writings of the Bible, 
but because they are writings of real and intrinsic 
worth — because they contain so large an element 
of truth, and breathe so potently the spirit of 
reverence, righteousness, trust, mercy, and love. 
Containing this truth and breathing this spirit, 
they help us to a clearer apprehension of this 
truth and a more complete realization of this 
spirit. In producing such an effect upon us they 
have to do it, and only so can do it, in the face 
of ignorance, doubts, questionings, misgivings, 



214 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

moral delinquencies, and spiritual deficiencies on 
our part. They have to take us as they find us, as 
we are, and manifest their excellence to us, con- 
vince us of their truth, and impress us with what- 
ever spirit of goodness they possess. If they can 
not do this, they can not have any authority for 
us. If the story of creation, in the first chapters 
of Genesis, cannot convince me of its truthful- 
ness, cannot win the assent of my mind, it can 
by no possibility have any authority for me; I 
reject it, I cannot honestly accept it: how, then, 
can it be authoritative to me ? If this sentence in 
Ps. cxxxix: "Do not I hate them, O Lord, that 
hate thee? — I hate them with perfect hatred," can 
not win the approval of my conscience or the 
sanction of my spirit, it can not have any author- 
ity for me, and could not if it were written in a 
hundred Bibles. If Paul teaches that woman 
should be in subjection to man, and should not 
speak in meeting, and should not even dress her 
hair in becoming fashion; and if I do not agree 
with Paul, but believe in the equality of the sexes, 
and accord the same liberty to others that I claim 
for myself, then Paul's teachings can have no au- 
thority on that subject for me, however much I 
may like and endorse his utterances on other sub- 
jects. A similar remark is applicable to the teach- 
ings of St. Paul and the apostles generally re- 
garding the second coming of Christ and the end 
of the world; if it is clear to me that they were 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 215 

mistaken in their belief respecting this matter, 
their words cannot be authoritative doctrine for 
me to accept and inculcate now. If one of the 
gospel narratives says that Jesus raised Lazarus 
from the dead, and its testimony is not to me con- 
clusive, it cannot have authority for me in this 
particular, for it cannot win the honest assent 
of my mind — and such assent must be honest, or 
it is really no assent at all. 

On the other hand, if many of the historical 
statements of the gospels appear to me to be cred- 
ible, and by all the tests I can apply or scholars 
have employed, are not invalidated, then they have 
authority for me ; for I accept them with good rea- 
son ; and I cannot accept anything without reason 
and at the same time preserve my intellectual in- 
tegrity, which is the prime condition of all faith. 
If Jesus says, "Love your enemies, bless them that 
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them which despitefully use you and per- 
secute you;"^ and if this injunction awakens 
an approving response in my soul, leading me to 
say: "Yea, and amen! if everybody would do 
that, the world would be soon rid of hate," then 
that utterance is a divine law with highest author- 
ity for me : it meets with the sanction of the pur- 
est and best spirit in my soul, and I can follow no 
higher or better authority than the highest and 
best that I am capable of appreciating. Or, if 

2 Matt. V. 44. 



2i6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Paul says : ''Be ye kind one to another, tender- 
hearted, forgiving one another;" "render to no 
man evil for evil;" "let him that stole steal no 
more;" "let no corrupt speech proceed out of your 
mouth;" ''pray always;" "in everything give 
thanks," etc. ; and if I respond : "Yes, Paul, you 
are right; such are true and blessed injunctions, 
and would that all men might heed them!" then 
those sayings, receiving thus the sanction of the 
holiest spirit in my heart, become a heavenly man- 
date for my soul, with as much authority as if 
spoken by an angel. 

In view of these considerations, I conclude that 
the nature of the authority possessed by the Bible, 
or by any part of it, is simply its spiritual power 
over our souls — its power to win the assent of the 
mind, or the approval of the conscience, or the 
love of the heart, or the sanction of the spirit. 
And the extent to which the Bible, or any part of 
it, is thus authoritative is precisely the extent to 
which it has this power. The authority of the 
Bible is therefore the authority of a helper — no 
more, no less. The Bible does not solve for me 
the great problems of life; it merely helps me to 
solve them. The Bible does not make me believe 
in God; it simply helps me tO' believe in him. 
The Bible does not make me believe in human im- 
mortality; it simply helps me to believe in it. 
The Bible does not make me good ; it simply helps 
me to be good. 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 217 

Accordingly, nothing is to be accepted just be- 
cause it is in the Bible ; there must be other good 
and sufficient reasons for such acceptance, as there 
must be also for rejection. Even though the doc- 
trine of endless punishment were taught in the 
Bible, I should not feel that therefore I must be- 
lieve it. Or if I am convinced that the doctrine of 
universalism is taught in the Bible, this fact alone 
is not an adequate reason for my belief in that 
doctrine; other considerations must harmonize 
with it and support it. And what I here say about 
the Bible I would say, with all reverence, about 
Jesus Christ. I do not believe in the teachings of 
Jesus Christ merely because they are his teach- 
ings, although I wish to say very emphatically 
that the fact of his teaching any given doctrine 
would go a great zvay toward leading me to be- 
lieve in it — would go farther, indeed, than any 
other influence except my own best thought and 
purest spirit. Rather, I believe in Jesus Christ 
because he taught what he did. In other words, 
I do not accept the teachings of Christ because I 
believe that God sent him into the world. Rather, 
I believe that God sent him into the world be- 
cause I see and feel that his teachings are true; 
they appeal to the best that is in me, and the best 
that is in me responds with a deep and holy ap- 
proval. That is to say, the teachings of Jesus 
Christ must stand upon their own intrinsic mer- 
its, as must all teachings in the last analysis. If 



2i8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

they are to endure and do good in the world, as I 
have the utmost faith that they are, it will be be- 
cause they deserve to do so, not merely because 
he inculcated them. And the grandest thing about 
Christ's teachings is that the experience of man- 
kind is all the time proving their merits, and thus 
giving to them the cumulative power of repeated 
and increasing corroboration and re-inforcement.' 
We see, then, that everything in the Bible, 
even everything in the teachings of Jesus Christ, 
is to be brought to the touchstone of the human 
soul itself, to be tested and thereupon accepted or 
rejected.^ People may call this rationalism and' 
heresy; it is merely that view of spiritual things 
which perceives that the human soul, although it is 
not the author of truth, is emphatically the judge 
of truth. I may not originate, or even discover, 
the law of gravitation ; but I can test it. I may not 
be the author of the great principle of brotherly 
love ; but I can tell whether it is a beneficent force 

3 The Bible is a great record of human experience in moral 
and religious things. As such it becomes a kind of spiritual mir- 
ror, which, when one looks into it, brings one to spiritual self- 
knowledge by reflecting and interpreting one's own similar experi- 
ences; and thus it both stimulates and enlarges those personal 
experiences, while tending to correct their eccentricities by the in- 
fluence of the many on the one. So experience is perpetually 
confirming the deep things of the Bible, while at the same time 
the Bible is perpetually awakening and confirming the deep ex- 
periences of the individual soul. The voice of God in the soul 
answers to the voice of God in those other souls whose earnest 
words constitute the Bible. 

* This is precisely the genuine Lutheran, as opposed to the 
post-Lutheran, view. See Dr. Tholuck's article, "The Doctrine of 
Inspiration," quoted above. 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 219 

in human society. I may not be the first to dream 
of human immortality ; but I can say whether I 
consider it to be anything more than a dream. 
Jesus Christ may reveal or declare to me the 
Fatherhood of God; but it is for me to decide, 
and in all lowliness I must hold myself competent 
to decide for myself, whether I believe that sub- 
lime doctrine to be reasonable, soul-satisfying, 
and blessed. And so I do not say that man is to 
be deemed the author of religious truth; but I 
do say that he is to be regarded as the judge of it 
— a distinction which we need always to bear in 
mind.^ I do not claim that man may write his 
own Bible, and has no need of the Hebrew and 
Christian Bible; or that man may be his own 
Savior, and does not need such a saving teacher 
as Jesus Christ — far be it from me to suggest 
the thought ! — but I do maintain that he is to pro- 
nounce, as best he can, upon their merits, and that 
they can have no authority for him except as they 
win the assent of his mind, the approval of his 
conscience, the love of his heart, and the sanction 
of his spirit. 

I see no escape from this position except in the 
surrender of the intellectual, moral, and religious 
judgment of the individual human soul.^ Either 

^"He that is spiritual judgeth all things," (I Cor. ii. 15). 

*• See Professor Wilhelm Hermann's Faith and Morals (G. P. 
Putnam's Sons, 1904), which has come to hand since this chapter 
was written. He insists throughout on the point here made. See 
especially pp. 175-85; also p. 285: "Only the man who can stand 



220 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

we must judge for ourselves, or we must yield to 
the judgment of another. We may yield to the 
assertion of a great and mighty Church, or to the 
declaration of the Holy Scriptures, or to the utter- 
ance of Jesus Christ, or to the interpretation of 
these given by one of our fellow-men; but if we 
thus yield without finally deciding for ourselves 
as to what we consider to be true and right and 
obligatory, we simply abdicate the supreme privi- 
lege and responsibility of a spiritual being, 
namely, self-determination. Let us remember 
that Jesus Christ never requires any such abdica- 
tion on our part; rather he summons us always 
to judgment, decision, choice, self-direction. He 
said to the people: "Why even of yourselves 
judge ye not not what is right ?" ^ "Judge not ac- 
ing to the appearance, but judge righteous judg- 
ment;"^ "He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear." ^ His appeal in all his teaching is to the 
deepest, purest, highest thought and spirit in the 
soul of man; and forever does he urge men to 
take his teaching and put it to the supreme test of 
experience in actual conduct. He waits for men 
to accept him; if they reject him, he leaves the 

by himself in the strength of his moral perceptions can be reli- 
giously alive. For it is only in his independent perception of what 
is good that he has the ability to perceive the power of God that 
is at work upon him." The volume is extremely valuable as a cogent 
statement of the true Protestant position. 

' Luke xii. 57. 

8 John vii. 24. 

» Matt. xi. 15. 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 221 

responsibility with them; he never seeks to drive 
people, but rather seeks to lead them by winning 
their free indorsement, trust, and love. In this 
he is supremely wise; he respects too much the 
august nature of the human soul ever to coerce 
anyone by imposing his authority upon mind, con- 
science, or heart. He will have our intelligent, 
sincere, voluntary, affectionate discipleship, or he 
will let us go our own way. Likewise, the Bible 
does not dictate. It exhibits divine truth, and in- 
dicates the will of God; it appeals, exhorts, en- 
treats, urges the holiest considerations, and pleads 
with men for righteous and pure living; but 
it leaves the duty of decision and action with 
them, saying : "Choose ye this day whom ye will 
serve." ^^ And because the formation of correct 
spiritual judgments, in matters of morality and 
religion, constitutes a large part of our best educa- 
tion, the Bible affords us in its varied and rich lit- 
erature the most valuable material we possess, 
aside from our own daily experience with our 
fellow-men, for making the most important dis- 
tinctions we are ever reqciired to make, namely, 
the distinctions between right and wrong, between 
true and false, in conduct and character, in the 
service of God and man. Therefore it is of the 
greatest consequence that the view of the Bible 
which I have presented, calling upon the individ- 
ual soul for discernment, and leaving with the in- 

i<> Josh. xxiv. 15. 



222 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

dividual soul at all hazards the privilege and duty 
of final judgment as to the teachings of the Bible, 
should be maintained as against that conception 
of its authority which virtually denies the right of 
such private judgment. 

I am aware that this reasoning will seem to 
cut the ground out from under the feet of many 
devout and earnest people. I know very well 
how strongly certain excellent persons desire to 
believe in a Bible and a Savior given directly from 
God, bearing the unmistakable seal of his ap- 
proval, whose utterances may be accepted without 
any question or misgiving. Such a faith in such 
a Bible and such a Savior seems to afford great 
rest, peace, and comfort to the soul; and I can 
easily understand how, for weary, troubled, sin- 
sick mortals, it is an unspeakable relief to believe, 
with reference to Christ particularly, that they can 
lay all their burdens down at the feet of an in- 
fallible Teacher of divine truth, a heavenly Sav- 
ior, who actually knows what" divine truth is, 
without any uncertainty, and who therefore is 
able to remove all their perplexities, so that they 
need only to hear what he says, take his word 
with implicit trust, and go on obeying it, no longer 
trying to think out for themselves the great prob- 
lems of life, but simply believing and doing their 
duty with child-like docility and fidelity. I grant, 
indeed, that this attitude is natural, reasonable, 
and wholesome, especially for those who have 



AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE 223 

been torn by temptation and sin, distracted by 
doubts, and overwhelmed by sorrow; and I re- 
joice to know that the Bible and Christ are able 
to meet just such needs, to deal with us all as with 
little children, to condescend to our lowliness and 
imperfection, to take us by the hand and lead us 
through the tangled pathway which we feel our- 
selves powerless to thread alone. In fact, so great 
is the Bible, and so great is the Savior, that they 
are both able to help the weakest as well as the 
strongest; and when the wrongs or the woes of 
life press most heavily upon us, when the world 
grows dark, and our feet falter, and our wisdom 
fails us, and our hearts are fearful, the Divine 
Voice, speaking through each of these Comfort- 
ers, says to us : 'This is the way, walk ye in it;" 
*'If any man will do his will, he shall know of the 
doctrine ;" 'Tet not your heart be troubled, neither 
let it be afraid." 

But in all this we need to remember that such 
help as we thus derive from Christ and the Bible 
springs, not from what we imagine them to be, 
but from what they really are. We cannot make 
either of them superhuman by merely calling them 
so ; we cannot give to either an authority in spir- 
itual things by ascribing all sorts of miracles and 
marvels to them; we cannot first put infallibility 
into them, and then appeal to them as infallible 
sources of moral and religious truth. Whatever 
truth there is in them already, regardless of us, 



224 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

will help us when we find it; and no amount of 
reverent and extravagant praise, no factitious 
claims, no superlative adjectives, can make them 
other than what they actually are. What they 
are is, as I have said that they are, helpers to true 
living — not substitutes for thought, or love, or 
the dictates of conscience, or the spirit of holiness 
in ourselves ; but simply aids to all these ; and the 
only authority they possess is in their power to 
draw us toward the life of God, or to awaken us 
to a consciousness of the life of God within us — 
a power which they are perpetually proving them- 
selves to have, as one after another of God's chil- 
dren puts them to the supreme test of practice. If 
you and I will but learn to apply this test, we shall 
soon find that both Christ and the Bible are able 
to lift our souls into the sunshine of the Divine 
Presence, ever mysterious and ever blessed, 
wherein the clouds of error, doubt, and sin dis- 
solve, and where alone can be found the "peace 
which passeth all understanding." 



PART II 

THE VALUE AND USE OF THE 
BIBLE 



CHAPTER IX 

THE NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

It is interesting to study the workings of the 
human mind in its progressive apprehension of the 
truth. We may properly say that the reahties 
of the universe, spiritual as well as material, for- 
ever await our cognition; but the universe is in- 
finite and its realities are marvelously complex, 
while we are finite and our mental expansion at 
best must be gradual ; hence we acquire our knowl- 
edge in fragments, by glimpses and slowly en- 
larging visions, and often through painful efforts 
to readjust ourselves to the changing views which 
command our attention. 

A new idea is liable to shock, disturb, and per- 
haps alarm us, if not indeed to arouse our angry 
opposition ; but later, when we become acquainted 
with it and find it a friend instead of an enemy, 
we assent to its claims, embrace it, and let it en- 
rich our lives. How frequently this twofold ex- 
• perience has occurred, on a vast scale, even in the 
most important movements of thought, the his- 
tory of Christianity and of modern learning 
abundantly shows. Jesus Christ came inculcating 
a liberal and lofty doctrine, far in advance of his 
time ; but because his countrymen could not appre- 
ciate it, or would not allow it to displace their 
cherished notions, he had to suffer martyrdom; 

227 



228 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

yet later the world discovered that his was the 
most sublime teaching ever imparted, and now his 
name is honored as is none other in all the earth. 
When Galileo and Copernicus first enunciated 
their conceptions of the solar system, they were 
denounced as enemies of the Christian faith, and 
were subjected by the ecclesiastical authorities to 
shameful persecution; yet now all Christendom 
gladly acknowledges an immense debt of grati- 
tude to them and to other scholars like them for a 
stupendous enlargement of man's vision of the 
Divine Order in the material universe. The same 
thing is true of the disclosures of modern geology, 
which at first were repudiated as atheistic because 
not harmonizing with the accounts of creation 
given in Genesis, but later came to be recog- 
nized as vastly increasing the Christian's belief in 
the infinite wisdom and power of him who may be 
now called, with greater fitness than ever before, 
the "Ancient of Days." Finally, in our own age, 
we have seen the wonderful theory of evolution 
condemned for similar reasons ; and yet, so swiftly 
fly the wheels of time, this very generation has 
witnessed the quick reversal of this early judg- 
ment, and the grateful acceptance at present, by 
a host of the most intelligent and consistent Chris- 
tians, of the evolutionary hypothesis as the largest 
contribution to religious faith — that is, to faith in 
a divinely ordered universe — which mankind has 
ever received, except from the gospel itself. 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 229 

Such instances should teach us the folly of 
hasty opposition to new ideas. At the same time 
they should teach us patience; for we see that a 
prolonged effort is often necessary for the human 
mind to adapt its vision to the new light, to 
modify its old conceptions, to recast its thinking, 
and so perhaps to alter habits of conduct, methods 
of work, and the character of outward institu- 
tions. 

Moreover, it is to be observed that different 
classes of people come to the apprehension of new 
truth with varying degrees of promptness. Nat- 
urally, the inquirers, investigators, explorers are 
the first to find it; then the scholars, very likely, 
pass judgment upon it; then the teachers, stu- 
dents, and intelligent readers learn about it; and 
last of all it reaches the multitude. Thus it may 
easily happen that the more enlightened among 
all these may become familiar with new ideas and 
facts, accepting and appreciating them, long be- 
fore less progressive minds are made aware of 
them; and so what is fully established with the 
educated at a given time may be just beginning to 
disturb others and to evoke their antagonism. At 
length, however, verified knowledge filters down 
through all grades of society, becoming the prop- 
erty of every mind and enriching the whole world. 
Now it cannot be surprising to find that pre- 
cisely such a history has repeated itself in the 
study of the Bible. We have learned that, during 



230 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the last two centuries, there has been growing up, 
among the scholarly classes, a new general concep- 
tion of the origin and character of the Hebrew 
and Christian Scriptures, which is not less im- 
portant, in its implications and within the field of 
its influence, than the scientific disclosures in the 
physical realm to which allusion has been made. 
This conception, too, is scientific, and the noble 
science that has yielded it is given the name of 
''Biblical Criticism." Slowly and patiently, with 
laborious research, through many conflicts of 
opinion, and often in the face of bitter opposition, 
its theories and conclusions have been wrought 
out ; and at length there is a vast body of informa- 
tion, legitimately entitled to be called scientific 
knowledge, which is unhesitatingly accepted by a 
host of the best scholars oi the world, and is now 
freely shedding its light upon the wider circles 
that must soon greatly benefit by it and rejoice 
in it. 

As yet, however, while this new and scientific 
view of the Bible may be said to be substantially 
established among large numbers of the educated 
classes and is rapidly winning new adherents, it is 
still in the disturbing, perplexing stage among the 
common people. They have heard something 
about it, but they do not understand it. Natur- 
ally and rightfully they cling to their old concep- 
tions because these are deeply rooted in their 
minds and seem very precious, and because they 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 231 

do not quite comprehend the significance of the 
proffered substitute. What is needed, therefore, 
is not denunciation, on either hand, but informa- 
tion, instruction, enhghtenment, patient consider- 
ation. Fortunately, much of this is now being 
afforded in many wise and helpful ways. Within 
recent years numerous handbooks have been pub- 
lished which have simplified the knowledge con- 
tained in the elaborate works of the scholars ; the 
writings of the Bible have been issued in various 
translations and in attractive literary forms; and 
the ministers have taught their congregations and 
Sunday-school teachers somewhat of the new 
truth about the Sacred Volume as it has been elu- 
cidated by the science of biblical criticism. 

As a result of all this education, both profes- 
sional and popular, it is now beginning to be ap- 
parent to many thoughtful minds that the grand 
outcome of modern learning in this fertile field is, 
not a depreciation of the Bible, as some have 
feared, but rather a new and higher appreciation 
of it. This very gratifying fact is full of encour- 
agement and inspiration for all who cherish the 
most vital interests of spiritual religion. Accord- 
ingly it becomes a happy privilege to portray the 
principal features of what may be thus most con- 
fidently stlyed "The New Appreciation of the 
Bible," so that it may be appropriated, and fresh 
light and power may be derived from the vener- 
able pages of Holy Writ. 



232 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

We are all aware that there was an old appre- 
ciation of the Bible, and that it is now passing 
away. It regarded the Book, from beginning to 
end, as "the Word of God." By this phrase was 
meant that it was fully inspired by the Almighty, 
and was infallible in its teachings ; that it was all 
essentially alike in its nature, so that no part could 
be rejected without invalidating the whole; and 
especially that it constituted a divine revelation — 
that is, a revelation of God's thought and will con- 
cerning man, of his mercy and love, of the way 
of salvation, and of the eternal destiny of the 
human soul. Therefore a knowledge of the Bible, 
and particularly of the Savior whom it mani- 
fested, was considered indispensable to the re- 
demption of mankind; and so missionaries have 
been prompted to go into all the world carrying 
these Holy Scriptures as a veritable way of life 
for the perishing nations, without which they 
were indeed rushing into the bottomless pit. 

In this view the Bible was thought to bring 
to each person a direct message from God, in- 
tended as much for one reader as for another, and 
literally intended for all ; that is to say, addressed 
as much to the people of the twentieth century as 
to those of the first — a proclamation or summons 
from the Throne of Heaven to every man on the 
face of the earth whom it might reach; and woe 
unto him whom it did not reach! And likewise 
woe unto him who, hearing, rejected or disre- 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 233 

garded it! How, then, could anyone who sin- 
cerely entertained such a conception fail to rev- 
erence, honor, and love these precious Writings, 
or fail to read them diligently, with fear and 
trembling ? As a matter of fact, pious and earnest 
Christians did so esteem and treat them ; and when 
the Scriptures began to be translated out of the 
Latin into the common tongues of Germany and 
England, in the sixteenth century, the people re- 
ceived them with devoutest joy and perused them 
with unwearied zeal; and we read of Puritan 
divines, in Boston, about 1635, sitting up all night, 
in the dead of winter, to study these written ora- 
cles of the Most High God. This conception and 
use of the Bible are sweetly embalmed for us in 
the poem of Robert Burns entitled The Cotter's 
Saturday Night, 

The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, 

They, round the ingle, form a circle wide; 
The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace. 

The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride : 
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, 

His lyart haffets ^ wearing thin an' bare ; 
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion ghde, 

He wales ^ a portion with judicious care; 
And "Let us worship God!" he says, with solemn air. 

The priestlike father reads the sacred page, 
How Abram was the friend of God on high; 

Or Moses bade eternal warfare wage 
With Amalek's ungracious progeny; 

1 Grey locks. 
' Chooses. 



234 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Or how the royal Bard did groaning lie 
Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire; 

Or Job's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry; 
Or rapt Isaiah's wild, seraphic fire; 
Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre. 

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme, 

How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed; 
How He, who bore in Heav'n the second name, 

Had not on earth whereon to lay His head: 
How His first followers and servants sped; 

The precepts sage they wrote to many a land: 
How he, who lone in Patmos banished. 

Saw in the sun a mighty angel stand; 
And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounced by 
Heav'n's command. 

Then kneeling down, to Heav'n's Eternal King, 

The saint, the father, and the husband prays: 
Hope "springs exulting on triumphant wing," 

That thus they all shall meet in future days : 
There ever bask in uncreated rays. 

No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear, 
Together hymning their Creator's praise, 

In such society, yet still more dear; 
While circHng time moves round in an eternal sphere. 

How many souls have been brought to a con- 
scious communion with God, to pure and faithful 
living, and to a triumphant death, under this old, 
reverent appreciation of the Bible, only the Re- 
cording Angel could tell; certainly their number 
is legion; and if these moral and religious in- 
fluences shall pass out of our civilization with the 
passing of the traditional ideas of the nature of 
the Bible, without leaving a better substitute, our 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 235 

civilization will suffer a spiritual impoverishment 
scarcely to be measured. But we must do our ut- 
most to make sure that, with the coming of a new 
conception of the origin and character of the 
Bible, there shall come also a new appreciation of 
its great excellence, a new understanding of the 
truth which it discloses, and a more vital grasp of 
the spiritual realities to which it bears potent and 
perennial witness. 

Let us begin by glancing at three fundamental 
aspects of the new appreciation of the Bible, the 
due consideration of which will prepare us for fur- 
ther estimates and applications. 

I. There is a new appreciation of the Bible as 
literature. It is as a body of literature that the 
new conception primarily regards it. For, what- 
ever else the Bible may be, and whatever mes- 
sages of divine import it may contain for us, it 
comes to us first of all as a collection of ancient 
writings — not a single book, but a library of 
sixty-six different books. As such a mass of lit- 
erature, it is to be examined, analyzed, and ap- 
praised by the same rules and processes of study 
which the experience of scholars has found neces- 
sary in the study of any other literary products 
treated as literature; that is to say, no theory of 
supernatural inspiration can be allowed to set 
aside the fact that the Bible was written by men, 
in human language, under certain intelligible his- 
torical circumstances. Our first task, therefore, 



236 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

is to take any given portion of the Scriptures sim- 
ply as a piece of human writing, to understand 
what the author says, to comprehend what he 
means as fully as we can, and, in order that we 
may do this, to have some clear and correct idea 
of the conditions under which he wrote, as to 
time and place, national or social influences, rela- 
tions to surrounding nations, prevailing views, 
and any other elements in the situation which 
may explain his message. 

Doing these things for the various writings 
which make up the Bible, we soon find that they 
constitute a peculiar literature — narrow, but deep ; 
profoundly ethical, intensely religious, and won- 
derfully expressive of the spiritual experiences of 
the earnest human soul. But we also discover 
that there is a great variety in its contents, that it 
is not all alike, either in literary form, or in ideas 
and ideals. It contains history, philosophy, 
poetry of many kinds, fiction, love-stories, a hymn- 
book, collections of maxims for practical conduct, 
brief biographies, letters of spiritual counsel and 
friendly correspondence, and ecstatic visions of 
seers and dreamers, along with sermons that re- 
buke sin and plead for uprightness with passion- 
ate ardor. And the quality of its utterances 
ranges from the childish notions of a primitive 
people just emerging from slavery, and from the 
moral pessimism of a satiated sensualist, to the 
sublimest and most comprehensive thought of the 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 237 

greatest spiritual Teacher the world has ever 
known, and to the mighty grasp of truth and the 
glorified ethical devotion of a philosopher who 
had drunk deeply from the wells of his ancestral 
religion, who knew something about the specula- 
tion and culture of Greece, and who had found the 
solution of life's problems in the holy gospel of 
the Son of Man. 

It is in view of facts like these that many in- 
telligent people are now pleading for the literary 
study of the Bible, especially in our colleges and 
universities. The Reverend Theodore T. Mun- 
ger, D.D., was one of the first to make such a 
plea, perhaps as early as about 1885 ; others heart- 
ily approved the idea, and soon biblical profes- 
sorships were established in a few institutions not 
specifically for the education of ministers. Now 
there are such professorships in a considerable 
number of the universities, and the work of the 
department meets with increasing favor. Mean- 
while, writers like Dr. Hamilton W. Mabie and 
Professor Richard G. Moulton are doing much to 
popularize this important idea. Professor Moul- 
ton holds the chair of English literature in the 
University of Chicago, and stands in the front 
rank of competent literary judges; and he has 
written : 

It is surely good that our youth, during the forma- 
tive period, should have displayed to them, in a literary 
dress as brilliant as that of Greek literature — in lyrics 



238 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

which Pindar cannot surpass, in rhetoric as forcible as 
that of Demosthenes, or contemplative prose not in- 
ferior to Plato's — a people dominated by an utter passion 
for righteousness, a people whom ideas of purity, of in- 
finite good, of universal order, of faith in the irresistible 
downfall of all moral evil, moved to a poetic passion as 
fervid, and speech as musical, as when Sappho sang of 
love or ^schylus thundered his deep notes of destiny. 
When it is added that the familiarity of the English 
Bible renders all this possible without the demand upon 
the time-table that would be involved in the learning of 
another language, it seems clear that our school and col- 
lege curricula will not have shaken off their mediaeval 
narrowness and renaissance paganism until classical and 
biblical literatures stand side by side as sources of our 
highest culture.^ 

Again he has said : 

A knowledge of Jewish literature and principles of 
morality and religion is essential, not only for our reli- 
gious life, but for a complete education. Our modern 
life is drawn from two sources : from Greece we obtain 
our intellectual elements, from Palestine we take our re- 
ligion and our moral ideals. A knowledge of classic 
hterature has always been considered necessary to com- 
plete education. If, however, we study the classics only, 
our education becomes one-sided. In order to come into 
contact with the other essential element of our life, we 
must study the Jewish literature as we find it in the 
Bible.* 

The same writer points out that the mechanical 

form in which the writings of the Bible come 

to us hinders our appreciation of their Hterary 

structure. 

In mediaeval times following the method of Jewish 
rabbis, the Bible was viewed as a collection of texts, 

» The Literary Study of the Bible, pp. ix, x. 
* A newspaper report of a lecture. 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 239 

and the only work in interpretation of the Bible was in 

the form of commenting upon those texts At the 

time of the writing of the King James' version, this 
mediaeval spirit was at its height. As a consequence, our 
Bible is divided into verses and chapters. This division 
is harmful to a thoughtful interpretation of the whole. 
.... If we should make a collection of the works of 
Shakespeare, the essays of Emerson, the poems of Mil- 
ton, and others of our great literary productions, remove 
from them all distinguishing marks of titles, so as to 
have a great conglomerate literary mass, and then should 
divide this mass into sections merely with regard to 
convenience of use as a textbook, but not distinguishing 
the different literary characteristics of the different works, 
we would have a condition exactly corresponding to that 
in the King James' version. The difficulty of interpret- 
ing such a mass is easily seen.^ 

Professor Moulton himself has rendered the 
English-reading pubHc a great service in this very 
direction by arranging all the books of the Bible, 
with their various contents, in what he conceives 
to be their appropriate literary form, so that the 
printed page enables the eye to see this at a glance, 
and by supplying introductory explanations, titles, 
and notes ; and the entire work has been published 
in a series of most convenient little volumes which 
it is a delight to handle and read, and which may 
be had for about forty cents each. 

If we approach and treat the Bible in the man- 
ner here indicated, we shall soon acquiesce in the 
judgment of Dr. Hamilton W. Mabie, that 

the conception of the Bible as literature is the only 
rational way of conceiving of it. Without the imagina- 

^ The same newspaper report. 



240 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

tion which created the Bible, it cannot be understood. 
If it should come to us today unknown to us, how eagerly 
all men would turn to it! It is just as beautiful, and just 
as great, and just as divine as if it had been found only 
yesterday.® 

2. There is next a new appreciation of the 
Bible as history. It comes to us out of a distant 
past, and it makes that past live again vividly, in- 
structively, impressively. To most men the ages 
that are gone are a dim, shadowy, dark back- 
ground. Personal memory is very short; family 
traditions are exceedingly uncertain; and beyond 
two or three generations the great majority of 
people can scarcely have any reliable information 
which does not come from an intelligent study of 
history. Like a great cloud on the far horizon, or 
like a vast, unexplored wilderness, is the unknown 
life of former times until illumined by the histo- 
rian's torch. And because the present life of the 
world, with its manifold interests and tendencies, 
is the product of the past, and therefore can be 
understood only in the light of its antecedents, 
history becomes a most important branch of learn- 
ing. Never was its importance more appreciated 
than now; never was its pursuit so realistic, so 
fascinating, so profitable. 

Now the Bible takes our thought backward 
nearly four thousand years; and the earlier half 
of this period, as it concerns certain extremely 

^ Newspaper report of address, December 19, 1903. 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 241 

significant developments, is reflected with remark- 
able clearness in its pages. As we read those 
pages we see, not only the people of Israel, but 
also those of Chaldea, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, 
Phoenicia, Syria, Arabia, Greece, and Rome; and 
we learn something thus of the most influential 
civilizations of antiquity. Soon do we discover 
that the men of those ancient days were men of 
like passions with ourselves; the essential unity 
of the human race is confirmed in our thought; 
and the great, spiritual laws that govern conduct, 
together with the mighty Providence that over- 
rules the affairs and events of nations, are dis- 
played on a stupendous scale. A sense of conti- 
nuity grows up in the mind ; we understand how, 
to the Divine Government, "a thousand years 
.... are but as yesterday when it is passed, and 
as a watch in the night;" and so nothing less than 
the sublime thought of God, transcendent yet im- 
manent, can satisfy and hold us, can steady and 
guide us, as we think of our little, personal lives in 
the far-reaching stream of history. Thus the 
past lives again only to make the present even 
more real than ever; and we have faith in the 
future because we are thus enabled to' see 
somewhat of "the purpose of the ages." 

Only the historical view of the Bible — the view 
which reproduces, both generally and with much 
detail, the times and conditions out of which it 
grew up as a living literature — can serve us in 



242 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

this way. To regard the Bible first as written 
primarily for us, of a later time, is to miss this 
conception and service almost wholly; but to re- 
gard it first as the product of a deep, strong, active 
life, lived by a certain people under definite cir- 
cumstances in the distant past, is to make that 
life and that past very real; and then we are 
ready, as we cannot otherwise be, to connect the 
present and ourselves with those earlier struggles 
of mankind toward God and goodness, and to 
read our own aspirations and conflicts in the 
light of a vast, spiritual process of disciplinary 
development. Thus to see each individual life 
in its large relations, perceiving how the Divine 
Order runs and works through all generations, 
is to derive one of the richest helps to faith and 
consecration which any religious ministry can 
afford. In the new sense of history which the 
historical and literary study of the Bible is quick- 
ening, we shall experience not only an increase 
of knowledge, but alsoi an enlargement of view, 
a clarification of insight, and a deepening of 
reverence, gratitude and trust, issuing in a fresh 
devotion and patience. 

So long as our religion continues to look to 
history for a considerable measure of its authen- 
tication, it must be careful to look to the truth of 
history. Christianity is, indeed, an historical re- 
ligion, and Judaism is doubly so, in the sense that 
both have had a birth and a career in the past ; and 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 243 

if their claims are to be urged in the present, as 
binding upon us, they must submit themselves to 
a rigid examination of their historical anteced- 
ents, course, and influence. Therefore the Bible, 
as the literary product of those two forms of re- 
ligious development, must be more and more 
scrutinizingly studied in connection with the his- 
tory comprised in it. That history will become 
clearer and clearer, and in turn will make the 
pages of the Bible more and more luminous ; and 
both in turn will help the individual soul of today 
to interpret its own spiritual experiences, and so 
to enter into a new and larger understanding of 
the works and ways oi God in human life — 
*'a householder that bringeth forth out o-f his 
treasure things new and oM." 

3. There is a new appreciation of the Bible as 
a revelation of life. It discloses a certain type of 
life in so marked a degree as almost to make it 
seem unique in kind. We call it spiritual life, 
and, indeed, can give it no better name; for it is 
the life of the spirit, a spirit of moral and reli- 
gious earnestness which gave its possessors a dis- 
tinctive character. Other peoples have been more 
brilliant intellectually and aesthetically ; but among 
no people has the moral sense been so keen, or the 
religious apprehension so clear and strong, as 
among the Hebrews. As Sabatier truly says : 

When one is in the state of mind which may properl}'- 
be called moral piety, it is impossible not to be struck by 



244 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the nature and power of that spirit of holiness which 
created the history of Israel, the Hfe and work of Christ, 
and in them reveals itself. There, amid the shadows and 
the sorrows of the times and the race, is a succession 
of men of God, each the spiritual father of the other, 
and all together creating in the bosom of humanity the 
high religion of the spirit. Their history is the history 
of God himself taking possession of the human soul, be- 
coming the inmate of the human consciousness to such 
an extent as in the consciousness of Christ to be identi- 
fied with it.' 

This exalted spiritual life, pure and vigorous, 
which we discern as we read and ponder the 
Scriptures, becomes to us a revelation of the capa- 
bilities of the human soul. We readily under- 
stand that there is one kind of life among the 
beasts of the field and the fowls of the air ; another 
kind among human beings who yet stand upon 
the physical plane merely, or but little above it; 
and still another kind among those races or indi- 
viduals that have awakened to intellectual con- 
sciousness, and have attained to some measure of 
knowledge and culture ; but here, above even this 
psychical plane, we recognize still another kind of 
life, which we call spiritual, or (to use a New Tes- 
tament word) pneumatical. It is the life of 
human souls that have been awakened to moral 
and religious consciousness, and have attained to 
some clear, trustworthy apprehensions, convic- 
tions, judgments, and determinations respecting 
the divine order of the world. It is essentially a 

'^ Religions of Authority, p. 241. 



NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 245 

type of human experience, and its expression in 
the Hterature of the Bible opens a vista of progress 
for other souls that have not yet tasted the joy of 
this higher, finer, holier development. It is as 
natural as the experience, the attainment, and the 
rapture of a great musician; but its blessings are 
available to a larger number of people, for all are 
spiritual beings, and all may be brought to some 
moral and religious awakenment. The spiritual 
life manifested in the Bible becomes both ex- 
ample and inspiration for all mankind. That 
which was realized in so large a degree by the an- 
cient people of Israel, and especially by Jesus 
Christ and his noblest disciples, is realized in some 
degree by us, and may be more fully realized by 
all men when the great, spiritual purposes and 
plans of the Divine Providence shall be wrought 
out to a more complete fulfilment. And it thus 
appears to be precisely our greatest privilege and 
duty now to enter upon this glorious heritage and 
birthright, to "awake out of sleep," to rise into a 
full realization of the blessedness of that spiritual 
life which the Bible so forcibly brings to our 
notice, and of which the Christianity of Christ is 
the finest flower and fruit. 

Because the Bible exhibits, more perfectly than 
any other literature, this noblest type of life, it 
will be increasingly appreciated as our civilization 
becomes more truly spiritualized. The "letter'* 
of the Bible, indeed, may not be rigidly accepted 



246 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

— it certainly will not be, in a multitude of in- 
stances; but the '^spirit" and power of the Bible 
will receive a greater honor than hitherto, and 
will sway the minds and hearts of men more ef- 
fectually, as our race moves slowly upward nearer 
to the lofty level of Jesus Christ. 

Here, then, we find a threefold appreciation 
of the Bible which promises, not only to be per- 
manent, but to increase ; namely, as a great liter- 
ature, profound and powerful, of perennial inter- 
est and vitality; as the product and record of a 
wonderful spiritual history, whose influence is 
rapidly becoming world-wide ; and, as a revelation 
of an exalted and sublime type of human life, 
prophetic of a blessed moral and religious develop- 
ment which is at least possible to the whole family 
of mankind. 

As the old appreciation of the Bible passes 
away, because of the breaking down of some of 
the theoretical conceptions which it implied, we 
may reasonably expect this new appreciation to 
take its place in the thought and affection of en- 
lightened people, and gradually to win a new 
allegiance and a new dominion in the spiritual life 
of coming generations. 



CHAPTER X 
THE BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 

The new appreciation of the Bible, as litera- 
ture, as history, and as a revelation of life, may be 
profitably supplemented by a fresh consideration 
of its relation to human progress. The subject is 
a large one, presenting many aspects, and opening 
the way for extravagant statements; yet it ought 
toi be possible to^ arrive at an intelligent, discrimi- 
nating, and approximately just judgment. Such, 
at least, should be our aim ; and if we hold fast to 
this purpose, we shall not be likely to wander far 
from the truth. 

The career of the Bible covers roundly three 
thousand years, including the earlier stages of the 
distinct national life out of which it arose. How 
large a portion is this of the entire known history 
of the world ? Not half of it, so far as time alone 
is concerned ; for the civilization of Chaldea dates 
back nearly twice as far — at least to 3700 b. c. ; 
while that of Egypt has an antiquity much greater 
still, being traceable to the remote distance of 
6000 B. c. Besides, the Bible has been limited in 
its direct ministry to a comparatively small part 
of the human family. Of course it was confined 
to the Israelites at first, until the advent of Chris- 
tianity; and even of those only a fragment really 
knew anything about it — that is, about the Old 

247 



248 NEW APPRECIATION^^OF THE BIBLE 

Testament, for the New Testament was not yet 
produced ; because, of the multitudes who had been 
carried away into the Babylonian Captivity, not 
more than about 40,000 returned to Palestine, 
bringing the substance of "The Law" and "The 
Prophets" with them,^ to which were subsequently 
and slowly added the other writings which com- 
plete the Hebrew Scriptures. Then as the dis- 
persed Jews, and later the Christian missionaries, 
bore some parts or some knowledge of the Bible 
abroad, it was only into the Grseco-Roman world 
that they went with such a possession : the teeming 
millions of Asia lay mainly beyond their reach, 
the savages of Africa were unknown, and nobody 
had ever dreamed of the western hemisphere 
which we now inhabit, or of the wild peoples who 
have been since discovered in the isles of the sea 
and at the ends of the earth. It was not until quite 
late in the modern era — principally within the 
nineteenth century — that the Bible began to find 
its way into all lands and races and tongues. Yet 
even now scarcely more than 400,000,000 of the 
1,400,000,000 of the population of the globe — 
less than one-third — can be claimed as Jews and 
Christians, using our Scriptures. 

But the nations reached by the Bible in this 
period of three thousand years have been precisely 
those that have had most to do with the develop- 

^ Yet the Law and the Prophets remained also with the non- 
rcturning, and a close correspondence was kept up with Babylon, 
e. g., by Nehemiah. 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 249 

ment of a progressive civilization. First it 
touched the Greeks, modifying and being modified 
by the subtle, brilliant, many-sided genius of that 
wonderful race ; with the result of giving Europe 
a Hellenized Judaism as the body of Christianity, 
with the teaching of Jesus as its soul. Next it en- 
gaged the Romans^ the most orderly, practical, 
conquering, governing people known in history; 
and they built its precepts and ideas, with some- 
what of its holy spirit, into the new institutions of 
the European nations that grew up to take the 
place of the decaying Empire. Then it came into 
contact with the Teutonic race, and may be said 
to have exerted its influence upon the fresh, free, 
and vigorous spirit of this noble stock more 
strongly than upon any other in its whole career. 

Now when we reflect that the Greeks, Romans, 
and Teutons have virtually made Europe as we 
know it, excluding the Slavic portions, and have 
thus produced our western civilization, as we see 
it in France, Germany, Scandinavia, Great Brit- 
ain, and America, and to a large extent also in 
Austria, Italy, and Spain; and when we further 
reflect that the various branches of the Teutonic 
race are still expanding and seem likely to play 
an enormous role in the affairs of the world in the 
immediate future, we can see how closely the 
Bible has been connected with whatever progress 
has actually taken place; and we thus obtain a 
broad basis upon which to estimate the manner in 



250 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

which the Bible has helped to effect or modify 
such progress. 

That spiritual progress has actually occurred 
during the last two or three thousand years, can 
not be seriously questioned. One does not need 
to indulge in overpraise of our own time, or to 
be blind to existing evils, in order to maintain 
that the modern world is far in advance of the 
ancient world in most of those respects which re- 
late to the higher interests of mankind. While 
art and philosophy and a certain buoyant joyous- 
ness reached a degree of perfection in the golden 
age of Greece which the present age of Europe 
and America does not witness, we remember 
that those were blessings for the few rather than 
for the many. The prevalence of slavery pre- 
cluded any better state of things; for in both 
Greece and Rome in their palmiest days about 
one-half of the population consisted of slaves; 
and although many of these were highly educated, 
often being teachers, artists, architects, physicians, 
and even merchants and bankers, the profits of 
whose labors accrued to their masters, yet the 
existence of such a fundamental institution on so 
vast a scale prevented the uplift of society as a 
whole. The very fact that at length this condition 
has been left far behind is itself one of the clearest 
and most substantial proofs of the great improve- 
ment which has taken place during the Christian 
era. 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 251 

To describe this improvement in its many 
phases would be to trace the history of Christian 
civihzation, which is impossible here. It is not 
difficult, however, to indicate its general character, 
its main aspects, and some of the influences con- 
tributing to its production, even within the com- 
pass of a few pages. 

I. Perhaps the most significant feature of the 
spiritual progress which has been accomplished 
since the days of Mesopotamian supremacy has 
been the slowly growing a ppreciation of human 
nature — the rise in value of the individual man.' 



A new sense of the sacredness of human life, a 
higher estimate of the capacity of the human soul 
generically, a more sublime conception of human 
destiny, and a wider, more real sentiment of 
human brotherhood have crept into the conscious- 
ness of millions of people, making the modern 
world vastly different from the ancient, and vastly 
nobler and brighter for the average man. While 
the various activities of the human mind, the 
growth of knowledge, the conquest of material 
nature, the enlarging universe, have all helped to 
beget this increasing sense of dignity, this en- 
hancement of human values, it is certain that an- 
other powerful factor has lain in the teaching of 
the Bible. The passing of polytheism and the es- 
tablishment of monotheism, with its ideas of an 

2 See the chapter on "The Spiritual Element in Social Ser- 
vice" in the author's The Spiritual Outlook (1902). 



252 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

almighty spiritual Deity, Maker and Ruler of the 
universe, Father of the spirits of all flesh. Gov- 
ernor among the nations. Judge of all the earth, 
holding moral relations with mankind, righteous 
in all his dealings, respecting no man's person or 
station, yet infinite in mercy, and loving every soul 
with an everlasting love — this has brought the 
human race, and every member of it who has 
learned the lesson, into a position of honor and 
unity under a Divine Government which has en- 
nobled and sanctified life and every interest as 
nothing else conceivable could have done ; and all 
this has come directly from the Hebrew and 
Christian Scriptures. They are full of precisely 
these conceptions, and wherever they have gone 
they have operated, even through imperfect and 
often obstructive agencies, to educate the children 
of men to this exalted thought of their place in the 
scale of being. With our present knowledge of 
history, it is impossible to imagine what other 
influence could have effected such a result. 

2. Along with this fundamental element, and 
partly in consequence of it, there has grown up in 
our developing civilization, during the extensive 
period referred to, a new feeling of respect, sym- 
pathy, and solicitude for man as the child of God. 
Nothing is more foreign to our modern ways of 
thinking, or seems more pitiful, than the almost 
universal contempt which prevailed in the ancient 
world for aliens or inferiors. But when people 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 253 

began to think of all men as objects of the divine 
love, as having some standing thus in the court 
of the Most High, they gradually learned the dif- 
ficult lesson of sympathy. This conception and 
this lesson, inculcated even in the Old Testament 
more fully than was at first understood, were 
greatly re-inforced by the example, spirit, and sac- 
rifice of Christ. "What God hath cleansed, that 
call not thou common,"^ said the voice to Peter 
in the vision ; and it led him to exclaim : "Of a 
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of per- 
sons: but in every nation he that feareth him, 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with 
him/'4 

So it was everywhere in some degree : a recog- 
nition of the great truth that God Almighty had 
loved the children of men, even the lowliest and 
the wickedest, sufficiently to provide for their 
eternal salvation, forbade the proud any longer to 
despise the humble, or the powerful to oppress 
the weak. Jew and gentile, bond and free, male 
and female came thus to stand upon a level in a 
new and very real way; and none was permitted 
to destroy, for any self-gratification, a brother for 
whom Christ had died.^ Forbearance, forgive- 
ness, charity, rCwSpect, sympathy, solicitude, broth- 
erly kindness, mutual helpfulness, together with 

8 Acts X. 15. 

* Acts X. 34, 35. 

6 Rom. xiv. 15. 



254 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

an earnest aspiration toward all goodness — these 
v/ere the traits and practices everywhere enjoined 
among the early Christians, as the letters of the 
New Testament abundantly witness; and the es- 
sential spirit of all this teaching was in keeping 
with the profounder meaning of the Old Testa- 
ment revelation of the righteousness, mercy, and 
loving-kindness of God. Such counsels, appeals., 
and influences, overflowing at length the bounds 
of race and country, and spreading gradually 
throughout the Grseco-Roman world, bore a new 
message of both divine and human love, yielding 
new hope, to millions weary with sin and suffer- 
ing and the empty faiths and philosophies of the 
time; and so, little by little, a new spirit of justice 
and tenderness began to make itself felt at the 
heart of pagan civilization, like the sunshine in 
spring in our northern clime. 

3. Thence arose the philanthropies of Chris- 
tendom, whose name is legion, and whose work, 
in spite of many faults, has been the crowning 
glory of the passing centuries. As one reads a 
book like Charles Loring Brace's Gesta Christi: 
A History of Humane Progress under Christian- 
ity,^ telHng how some of the hoary evils of 
paganism — such as paternal tyranny, the subjec- 
tion of womanhood, licentiousness, the exposure 
of children, slavery, war, and the unjust distri- 
bution of property — were assailed, checked, and 

8 New York: A. C. Armstrong, 1882 (4th ed., 1887). 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 255 

largely overcome by the influence of the person 

and teaching of Jesus, operating through the lives 

of his followers, one sees not only how portentous 

was the struggle, but also how splendid was the 

victory, even though it has never been complete. 

Let a single paragraph indicate the tenor of the 

long and thrilling story : 

The influence of the great Friend of humanity was 
especially seen in the Roman Empire in checking licen- 
tious and cruel sports, so common and so demoralizing 
among the classic races; and in bringing on a new legis- 
lation of beneficence in favor of the outcast woman, the 
mutilated, the prisoner, and the slave. For the first 
time the stern and noble features of Roman law took 
on an unwonted expression of gentle humanity and sweet 
compassion, under the power of Him who was the brother 
of the unfortunate and the sinful. The great followers of 
the Teacher of Galilee became known as the "brothers 
of the slave," and the Christian religion began its struggle 
of many centuries with those greatest of human evils — 
slavery and serfdom. It did not, indeed, succeed in abol- 
ishing them; but the remarkable mitigations of the sys- 
tem in Roman law, and the constant drift toward a con- 
dition of liberty, and the increasing emancipation through- 
out the Roman Empire, are plainly fruits of its principles. 
All these and similar steps of humane progress are the 
Gesta Christi and the direct effects of His personal influ- 
ence on the world.'^ 

These sentences afford merely a hint of the vast 
humanitarian movement of the Christian era, 
which has not yet accomplished its holy mission, 
but which, even so, has brought incalculable bene- 
fits to mankind. Through many instrumentali- 

'^ See op. cit., p. 107. 



256 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ties — asceticism, monasticism, ecclesiasticism, 
schools, missions, charitable institutions of one 
kind and another — and notwithstanding blunders 
and dire consequences often, the benign spirit of 
Christian philanthropy has grappled with the 
actual and terrible evils of the world, and has 
slowly, partially, but substantially and nobly tri- 
umphed over them, establishing justice and sym- 
pathy in place of cruelty, and incarnating kind- 
ness in a thousand forms of social helpfulness. 

4. Another outcome of the enhanced valuation 
of human nature resulting from the influence of 
the Bible, and especially from the influence of the 
Christian gospel, has been a slowly growing spirit 
of democracy. The enthronement of Jehovah as 
King of kings and Lord of lords, the one living 
and true God, the inexorable but impartial Judge 
of all the earth, the common Father of the chil- 
dren of men, had the effect of putting mankind 
upon a certain spiritual equality before him; arti- 
ficial distinctions in society were obliterated; the 
only distinction that counted in his sight was the 
distinction between righteousness and wickedness 
— a good man, though poor and humble, being ac- 
ceptable to him ; while a wicked man, though rich 
and mighty, was condemned and rejected by him. 
This ethical teaching of the Old Testament was 
renewed and intensified in the New Testament; 
and, most deeply impressed upon the world by the 
exalted and beautiful character of Jesus Christ, 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 257 

it began to diffuse a new influence in the hearts 
of men, and to awaken a new sense of equality — 
a conception and feehng of equality which had 
never before existed. The slave and his master 
were alike children of a common Father, owning a 
common Savior, and inheriting a common hope of 
eternal life; therefore they were really brothers, 
and must live together in justice, kindness, and 
peace. So they worshiped in the same sanctuary, 
knelt before the same altar, and partook the same 
communion; and so "brotherly love" became the 
great, beautiful watchword of a new social order, 
binding the world "by gold chains about the feet 
of God." 

Now nothing short of such a sublime spiritual 
conception and conviction could break the ancient 
tyranny of caste and class, and give inner hope 
and consecration to the individual soul. The 
power of the past was overwhelming; the world 
was held in the vise of custom solidified into law. 
The individual was merely a unit in a vast cor- 
poration, the State, to which his interests were 
entirely subordinate; and religion was largely a 
device for sanctioning the established order of 
things. Only an idea which lifted the individual 
above the world, centering his main interests in 
a Divine Government that cared for his personal 
welfare, and that might rectify and supersede the 
governments of earth, could deliver him from this 
matrix. Such was the task and service of the 



258 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

faith which lay at the heart of the Bible. To quote 
from a recent writer : 

The monotheistic idea of God, as the prophets con- 
ceived it, entailed an impassioned behef in human equality. 
Compare the Old Testament with Plato. The sacred 
nation in prophetic thought was in truth provincial. Be- 
yond the frontiers of this one people the best things, for 
the most part, did not travel. Plato also was by reason 
of his exaltation of his own race provincial, quite as pro- 
vincial as the prophets. But compare them as their 
thought and plan holds good over the territory they try to 
cover. Within Plato's commonwealth, while there are no 
castes in the technical sense, yet there are lines of separa- 
tion drawn so clearly and with so much suggestion of 
permanence, that we are led into a thoroughgoing aris- 
tocratic view of things. But in the prophetic common- 
wealth all distinctions are removed. There's one God, 
one good, for all men. One capacity for receiving the 
good is ascribed to them all. Aggressive universalism 
inheres in prophetic monotheism. In it the Fatherhood 
of God, the Brotherhood of men, are implicit. 

Therefore the attempt to popularize monotheism was 
in itself a grand act of faith — faith in the sovereign value 
of the idea itself, faith also in the spiritual capacity of 
the common man. As plainly as human thoughts can 
express anything, did this undertaking proclaim an abso- 
lute conviction that the lowest classes were level to the 
highest knowledge, and that the constitution of our com- 
mon humanity called for no mysteries that should be the 
prerogative of the few. And so the success that crowned 
the attempt to popularize monotheism was one of the 
great steps taken by history towards Democracy. For 
the unity of God draws after it the unity of the race and 
the unity of society. The logic of monotheism limps un- 
less it brings up at last on the conception of a nation, 
a church, a humanity, within whose pale there are no dis- 
tinctions save temporary and economic ones. The caste 
principle has no foothold anywhere within it.^ 

8 Professor Henry S. Nash, Genesis of the Social Conscience, p. 
84. 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 259 

There surely have been many influences — of 
racial temperament, climate, political experiment, 
growing knowledge, invention, and widening in- 
tercourse — which have wrought through the long 
centuries toward the production of this fruit of 
the spirit, democracy, that is ripening in our 
time; but it is safe to say that, among them all, 
none has been so effectual as the ethical and reli- 
gious faith expressed in the Bible, rooted and 
grounded in Hebrew monotheism, and flowering 
most perfectly in the teaching of Jesus Christ. 
The world is yet very far from realizing the full 
blessing of this precious fruitage ; but it is slowly 
moving forward toward such a larger realization, 
and nothing so constantly sustains it in its patient, 
toilsome advance as the spiritual idealism en- 
shrined in the sacred literature of Christendom, 
and forever palpitating as a living "Vv 0^0 of God" 
in the soul of every aspiring man. 

5. It remains to be said that the Bible has con- 
tributed directly and immensely to spiritual prog- 
ress by promoting the spiritualization of religion. 
A study of the world's history shows that religion 
has always been a powerful reality. Existing 
wherever man has existed, appearing in ages of 
darkness as well as those of light, and express- 
ing itself in forms of superstition and fear quite 
as much as in those of intelligence and love, it 
has been a constant presence and a potent factor 
in the formation of character and the development 



26o NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

of civilization. Sometimes it has been productive 
of ill, and sometimes of good ; now holding an in- 
dividual, a race, a nation in the thraldom of igno- 
rance and cruelty; and anon effecting the deliver- 
ance of such out of the bondage of corruption into 
the glorious liberty of the children of God. It 
has claimed the attention of all sorts and condi- 
tions of people, has allied itself with all sorts of 
interests, and has created or supported a large 
variety of institutions. Whether for weal or for 
woe, it has been a power which could never be 
permanently ignored; and today it is abroad in 
the earth exerting itself and doing its work as 
steadily and positively as the force of gravity. 
It is no myth, no product of a sick fancy, no 
child even of poesy; but rather a great, natural 
energy, whose seat is in the human soul, but whose 
source is hidden away in the depths of the Infinite. 
Man does not make himself religious, no church 
or sacrament makes him religious, nor is he made 
religious by any miracle save that greatest and 
most primitive of all miracles, the miracle of his 
creation as a spiritual being, the child of the liv- 
ing God. And because religion is thus native to 
man, a spiritual energy or life that is governed by 
its own absolute laws, nothing can entirely sup- 
press it or perpetually withstand it ; it must rise to 
its legitimate place of dignity and power in hu- 
man development sooner or later ; no man can be 
forever irreligious; no skepticism, no worldliness, 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 261 

no ignorance, no wickedness can eternally alienate 
him, from the life of God; and noi society, no 
civilization can be permanently immoral and 
unspiritual. 

Seeing thus the vast importance of religion as 
a vital force in our human world, we see at once 
that whatever influence may enlighten, elevate, 
and purify religion must greatly benefit mankind. 
A debased religion means a degraded manhood; 
an exalted religion means an ennobled manhood. 
Now the ideas, principles, and spirit which per- 
vade the Bible tend most strongly to produce a 
pure and undefiled type of religion. To be sure, 
there are, in the earlier portions of the Old Testa- 
ment especially, many crude, imperfect, essentially 
erroneous conceptions, which are the remains of 
a prevalent polytheism and a gross anthropomor- 
phism; and even in the later portions there are 
endless rules and regulations for an elaborate cere- 
monialism which to us seem to militate against 
vital inspiration and growth. But, along with 
these shortcomings, there are the sublime thoughts 
about the one only and true God, Jehovah, about 
his righteousness and grace, about his inexorable 
government of the children of men, in justice and 
yet in mercy, which have in all generations helped 
powerfully to awaken a reverent faith and an 
ethical devotion ; and the passion of this faith and 
devotion, flaming out in the utterances of the 
prophets, and singing or weeping in the piety of 



262 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the psalmists, has carried the hearts of unnum- 
bered myriads of human beings into a seriousness 
and earnestness of feeling and endeavor which 
have glorified life with a new consecration. Then 
in the New Testament we find the defects of the 
older religious life largely outgrown ; particularly 
in the teaching and character of Jesus we perceive 
the purest spirituality ever witnessed among men 
— intelligent, sane, balanced, sincere, chaste as 
the sunshine, ardent as love, stronger than death ! 
This beautiful and mighty religion permeates all 
the writings in the New Testament, in spite of the 
limitations which characterized their several au- 
thors and have left their impress of error or weak- 
ness upon its pages. It glows like a heavenly 
light in the soul of every disciple, evangelist, or 
apostle who has been really touched by the spirit 
of his Master ; and the countless hosts who, since 
the first days, have read this priceless literature 
have been awakened to a vision of spiritual life 
and character, of moral purity and loving service, 
of inner peace and joy which have been to them 
the one transcendent meaning and blessedness of 
their existence. Religion has been thus lifted up, 
purified, sanctified, and made to be a radiant ex- 
perience of power in the heart, — an experience of 
faith, hope, and love — issuing in an outward life 
of benevolent activities. Millions of men and 
women, sharing in some degree such a spiritual 
experience, have made the world brighter and 



BIBLE AND SPIRITUAL PROGRESS 263 

warmer than it could possibly have been other- 
wise. Slowly the religion of the masses has be- 
come more vital, ethical, practical, hopeful; fear 
and gloom are at length beginning to vanish; a 
healthful, happy, beautiful piety is beginning to 
spring up; and all these fair results may be as 
surely attributed in part to the influence of the 
Bible, more especially the influence of the Chris- 
tian portion of it, as the flowers that adorn the 
fields may be attributed largely to the sunshine. 

The transformation of popular ideals and hab- 
its is an exceedingly slow process. "A little leaven 
leaveneth the whole lump," indeed, but it neces- 
sarily does its work very gradually. It was com- 
paratively easy to establish the Jewish church 
and the Christian Church as outward institutions ; 
it was a vastly more difficult task to impregnate 
human society with the true spirit of Judaism 
and Christianity to such an extent as to quicken 
a new life in the heart of the individual, and to 
reform the terrible social abuses under which the 
world was groaning and travailing in pain. But 
the Bible has wrought patiently at this gigantic 
task: untold millions who have been reached by 
its influence during the passing centuries have not 
been touched wholly in vain; minds have been 
divinely enlightened, hearts have been softened, 
miseries have been alleviated ; and, little by little, 
civilization has taken on a mildness, a sacredness, 



264 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

and a benignance which would have been scarcely 
conceivable but for the vital inspiration of this 
wonderful literature. It has accomplished what 
no political or ecclesiastical government could ever 
accomplish — it has molded "the thoughts of the 
hearts" of mankind; and from this inmost center 
working outward, in the individual and in society, 
it has exerted a regenerative influence which has 
begun the establishment of a new dominion 
among men — the kingdom of Heaven on earth. 
The deeper history of every period is not the 
history of wars and of empires, but rather the 
history of the inner, spiritual life of the race. 
As we have here caught a glimpse of the manner 
in which the Bible has at least partially conquered 
the paganism of antiquity and the barbarianism of 
the Middle Age ; and as we see how at length, in 
our own day, it is finding its way into all lan- 
guages, while it is better understood than ever 
before, and while popular education is spreading 
everywhere, so that it may be read and enjoyed 
by the waiting millions, we are encouraged to ex- 
pect in the future a yet more marvelous demon- 
stration than even the past has afforded of the 
great value of the Bible in relation to spiritual 
progress. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE SERVICE OF THE BIBLE TO OUR 
OWN TIME 

Having glanced at the role which the Bible has 
played in the spiritual progress of the past, we 
need next to consider what service it may render 
to our own age. For we can by no means ignore 
the significant change that is taking place in the 
thought of men respecting the nature of the Sa- 
cred V^olume; and if they are still to retain a vital 
interest in it, so as to read it with diligence and 
to derive substantial help from it, they must be 
enabled to see why they should thus submit them- 
selves to its influence. One may, indeed, rever- 
ence and love it for the sake of what it has been to 
previous generations, whose culture he has in a 
measure inherited ; but if one is to continue using 
it for himself, in such a way as to let it have real 
power over his life, and if he is to educate his 
children in its ideas and spirit, he must honor it 
for the sake of what it is now by understanding 
its present valid claims upon his attention. Ac- 
cordingly an important specific task, urgently 
needing to be well performed, is to point out the 
positive value of the Bible, under the new general 
conception of its character, to the welfare of the 
individual and the progress of society in our own 
time, as we look forward along the various lines 
of an expanding civilization. 
265 



266 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Two/ or three preliminary remarks deserve 
attention. 

1. The fact that the Bible has exerted a potent 
influence in the past warrants the assumption that 
it possesses some great, enduring merit which will 
make it influential in the future. Experience is 
a safe guide here, as in other matters of moment. 
And assuredly experience abundantly proves the 
power of the Bible to quicken, inspire, enlighten, 
invigorate, comfort, moralize, and sanctify man- 
kind to a degree matched by no other literature 
in the world. And in its career during the last 
two thousand years it has been tested among all 
sorts and conditions of men, not less the cultivated 
classes than the barbarian and the savage; it has 
traversed all areas of human life, from the most 
corrupt to the most saintly ; and it has been trans- 
lated into hundreds of languages and dialects, 
among all nations and tribes in all parts of the 
earth. Certainly the honor thus accorded it and 
the sway thus maintained by it justify us in be- 
lieving that it has some unusual and permanent 
value that must render it vastly helpful to our 
own and coming generations, whatever changes 
of view it may undergo. 

2. Careful reflection will show that the influ- 
ence of the Bible in the past has not been mainly 
due to any particular theory which has been held 
regarding its origin. In other words, its power 
has not grown out of the fact that people have 



SERVICE^OF^THE^BIBLE 267 

called it "the Word of God ;" but rather they have 
called it "the Word of God" because it has had 
such power over their souls. They have felt that 
it brought to them a divine message, making di- 
vine truth clear to them which was unknown or 
dimly guessed before; and so they have recog- 
nized its divine nature, and have claimed it as a 
divine revelation. But, all the while, it was not 
the theory that was the source of its power, but 
rather it was its power which gave rise to the 
theory. Therefore we should not expect a change 
in the general theory by zvhich the origin of the 
Bible is explained to weaken its moral and reli- 
gious influence in the lives of those who study it; 
on the contrary, such a change as is now occur- 
ring is likely, in due time, to increase that influ- 
ence, simply because a larger intelligence, when 
valid, leads to a truer and fuller appreciation. 

3. An increased knowledge of the Bible has 
nearly always been followed by a widespread spir- 
itual quickening, and it is reasonable to believe 
that such will be the case now. In the days of 
Josiah, King of Judah, when the book of Deuter- 
onomy was brought out and read to the people 
it made a profound impression and produced a 
revolution in their religious customs and moral 
conduct. When St. Jerome, in the fourth cen- 
tury, translated the Scriptures into the Latin, his 
work, although at first opposed, became in time 
the great literary medium by which the Roman 



268 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Church built itself up and transmitted to later 
times, with less perversion than would otherwise 
have occurred, the precious religious story in- 
trusted to her keeping. When Erasmus, in the 
early years of the sixteenth century, published his 
edition of the Greek text of the New Testament, 
with an improved Latin translation and comments, 
it ran over Europe like wildfire, and aroused the 
people to an astonished sense of the richness of 
their Christian inheritance, from which they had 
been largely shut out. When, upon the heels of 
this enterprise, came Luther's noble rendering of 
the Bible into his native German tongue, the peo- 
ple devoured it with eagerness, and found it vir- 
tually a new revelation of divine truth; and it 
quickly became the bulwark of the Reformation. 
Yet again, when the first English versions were 
made, a similar hunger awaited them, and a sim- 
ilar popular effect was produced by them; and, 
indeed, everywhere "the open Bible" became the 
watchword of Protestantism, and has kept Prot- 
estantism alive and growing ever since. In view 
of these facts, not to cite others, we may confi- 
dently look for a vast spiritual uplift to result in 
the near future from the new learning of these 
days respecting the Scriptures, if only we make 
sure to embrace it, to use it aright, and to educate 
the people at large with reference toi it. 

Now if we inquire closely what are the salient 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 269 

excellencies of the Bible which make it worthy of 
our most earnest study, and what is the peculiar 
service which it may render to our present civil- 
ization, we shall find a number of important points 
to be considered. 

I. Obviously the first of these is the fact that 
it preserves the threefold story of the Israelitish 
people, the life and teaching of Jesus, and the 
work of the apostles in planting the Christian 
Church. What if there had been no literary rec- 
ord of these extremely significant things ? What 
if we had been obliged to depend upon oral tra- 
dition, or even upon the authority of august in- 
stitutions, for the transmission of such facts dur- 
ing two or three thousand years? We very well 
know what perversions and corruptions the truth 
about these selfsame matters has suffered not- 
withstanding our possession of this mass of liter- 
ature, by which we are now learning to correct 
the vast traditionalism of nineteen centuries or 
more; and it is beyond all question that, without 
these priceless literary memorials, we should have 
no trustworthy account of that ancient, unique 
and inestimable history wherein the sublimest 
spiritual ideas and ideals of the present age ori- 
ginated. The value that tradition sometimes has 
may be freely granted, as may also the fact that 
the Christian Church antedates the written New 
Testament ; ^ but this in nowise invalidates the 

1 Consult Professor E. C. Moore's extremely valuable work, 
The New Testament in the Christian Church, Macmillan, 1904. 



270 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

contention that, with tradition alone, we should 
have been certain to wander far and wide from 
the truth of history and from the great lessons 
which it teaches us. For instance, what should 
we know, in a reliable way, of Greece and Rome 
but for the Greek and Roman classics ? At least, 
how meager and tantalizing would be our glean- 
ings from their archaeological remains! Like- 
wise, how dim would be the light that shines 
through the intervening ages from Egypt, Baby- 
lon, and Nineveh, if there had been no inscriptions 
on their long-buried monuments, now happily ex- 
humed, to tell us their strange stories and to re- 
veal the thoughts and imaginations of men's 
hearts in those times! Correspondingly, it is al- 
together probable that, without the Holy Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testaments, the history 
of Israel, the life-work of Jesus, and the origin of 
the Christian Church would be to us like the mem- 
ory of a great dream experienced long ago by our 
race, susceptible of no verification, and distorted 
into every conceivable shape through the loving 
amplifications and the selfish misconstructions to 
which human nature would have subjected 
them. When we duly measure the import of this 
consideration, we can scarcely be too thankful for 
the sacred literature that has preserved for us the 
most precious spiritual heritage which comes to 
us out of all the past. 

2. The Bible reinforces and purifies the wor- 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 271 

ship of mankind. We know that worship is one 
of the great facts of our human world ; its univer- 
saHty and potency are recognized and understood 
by scholars today more fully than ever before. 
All nations, from the most primitive to the most 
cultivated, worship something ; and nothing more 
surely influences conduct and character than does 
the outpouring of the soul in this sacred act. 
And a wide survey of the religious rites and cere- 
monies of our race shows us that worship is often 
grossly superstitious, sensual, and even cruel, ac- 
companied by utterly false ideas, and imposing 
needless burdens of sacrifice and suffering upon 
the people. If we complain of priestcraft, even as 
it has been witnessed in Christian history, let us 
not forget that it is well-nigh a universal disease, 
from which no people, not even a people claiming 
enlightenment, has been wholly free. 

Now the tremendous influence of the Bible, 
wherever it makes itself felt, not only increases 
worship but spiritualizes it. It quickens and 
strengthens the instinct of worship which is na- 
tive to the human soul, because its writers were 
full of the spirit of devout aspiration — so full, 
indeed, that, in this far-subsequent time even, we 
can hardly find any language so suitable to voice 
our praise and thanks, our trust and love, our de- 
sire to consecrate ourselves to some divine pur- 
pose, as the strong words of Holy Writ; and so 
it comes to pass that the Bible helps to rear tem- 



272 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

pies and gather pious congregations in all lands 
and among all peoples whither it finds its way. 
It also tends positively to make worship a living 
thing, not formal, perfunctory, hollow. Perhaps 
it does not entirely succeed in this; perhaps, in- 
deed, nothing can wholly keep us from lifeless 
conventionalism; for we easily fall into conven- 
tional ways in nearly everything — in conversa- 
tion, manners, politics, education, and even art. 
But the Bible is the most potent safeguard 
against conventionalism in religion, and the best 
promoter of vitality therein, which we possess 
excepting the Spirit of the living God. It makes 
us feel that we must worship in spirit and truth, 
because the Being whom it presents for our ado- 
ration is Spirit; it exalts all our conceptions of 
the Holy One that inhabiteth eternity ; and it con- 
strains every soul to come before him in humility 
and purity, yet in loving gratitude and gladness. 
Thus it ennobles, sanctifies, and glorifies human 
worship as probably no other single agency could 
do ; and this altogether by virtue of the cleansing, 
invigorating currents of spiritual influence which 
it pours into our inevitably religious life, even 
when accepted as a purely human literature. 

3. Again, the Bible brings the individual soul 
to itself in a way which is equaled by no other in- 
strumentality. The deep spirit that pervades the 
Scriptures finds the deep places in each life. It 
seems to speak directly to you and me, to have a 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 273 

message for every heart. The Bible magnifies 
the importance of the individual human soul by 
making every man feel that he sustains a per- 
sonal relation to God, that God deals with him as 
an accountable being, and loves him as a son. 
And can we measure the significance of this single, 
sublime truth? Here we are in an infinite 
universe, of unfathomable mystery. How 
strange it is ; how overwhelming at times ! What 
are we but atoms? No wonder that men some- 
times think of themselves as "the small dust of the 
balance,'* and "altogether lighter than vanity"! 
No wonder, then, that they sometimes throw 
their lives away! But the Bible teaches them 
that their lives are precious in the sight of God; 
that all this mystery is understood by him; and 
that the whole material universe is but the ves- 
ture and theater for the working-out of his plans 
for these very children of men. Ah, how that 
conception changes everything ! How it helps us 
to find ourselves in this vast wilderness — yea, 
even to find ourselves at home in it! "We are 
sons of God; and if sons, then heirs — heirs of 
God, and joint heirs with Christ !" And "if God 
be for us, who can be against us ?" Such is a hint 
of the way in which the Bible brings the human 
soul to itself by bringing it tO' its Heavenly 
Father, and thereby saves it from its sense of 
loneliness, of orphanage, in this immense and 
often-seemingly cruel universe. 



274 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Does one need to say that this sense of the 
divine solicitude carries with it somewhat of the 
sense of sin, and also the sense of forgiveness? 
When the Bible makes us feel that we are chil- 
dren of God, it makes us feel that we ought to 
act as such. This means that the voice of con- 
science, bidding us do right and be true, or re- 
proving us for wrong and falsehood, is recog- 
nized as God's prompting or restraining Spirit in 
the soul ; and thus we come to feel ourselves more 
keenly responsible for every word or deed. 
Therefore the whole of life, all our personal con- 
duct, even the inmost thought of the heart, takes 
on a new sacredness: we are in God's world, 
God sees us, we cannot get away from his loving 
yet rebuking Spirit; and so sin becomes a fright- 
ful reality, and righteousness a higher and a 
glorious reality. Thus we come to understand 
what life means in its ethical aspects, and the 
Voice that speaks to us out of the Bible forever 
echoes and reinforces the voice of our own 
hearts: "Be ye holy, for I am holy;" "this do, 
and thou shalt live." 

4. Once more, the Bible directly and power- 
fully promotes the welfare of society. By mag- 
nifying the importance of the individual and mak- 
ing his life more sacred, it improves the social 
units. If you were going to build a brick wall, 
one of the prime conditions of your success in 
building a good wall would be that each brick 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 275 

should be a good one. No more can a satisfac- 
tory social order be established without right- 
minded, sound-hearted men and women. Make 
each man intelligent, honest, free, fearless, un- 
selfish, consecrated, and society will be just, pure, 
and prosperous. Because, therefore, the Bible 
deals primarily with the individual soul in such a 
way as to ennoble it, the Bible ministers immedi- 
ately and vitally to the social welfare. And we 
shall never get beyond this method of trying to 
improve the race, no matter what rearrangements 
of government and industry we may make. Sys- 
tems of social philosophy which ignore this truth 
are bound to go to pieces very speedily. 

And yet the Bible deals most effectually with 
men in a distinctively social capacity. There is 
no literature that drives home to people more 
forcibly a sense of their social relationships and 
responsibilities. Notwithstanding the vein of 
independence in the natural character of the early 
Hebrews, their ethical spirit and their religious 
devotion carried them into such unity under their 
theocratic government that at last it was the na- 
tion as a whole, or the purified remnant saved 
from the disasters of centuries, that became the 
servant of Jehovah; and he, a God of rightcvous- 
ness, required of them the practice of righteous- 
ness among their fellow-men at every step in 
their long career of suffering and discipline. 
This mighty moral energy expressed itself in the 



276 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Utterances of the prophets, who denounced social 
wickedness as strongly as they condemned idol- 
atry; and as we read those trenchant messages 
today, we feel that the same holy spirit rebukes all 
our social injustices and oppressions, and calls us 
likewise to obey the moral law as the very first 
condition of social prosperity. When we pass 
over to the New Testament and grasp its great 
doctrine of the divine Fatherhood, and see its 
corollary of human brotherhood, and listen to the 
Golden Rule, the Parable of the Good Samari- 
tan, and all the injunctions of charity, justice, 
and kindness, we are impressed still more deeply 
with the binding force of our social obligations, 
constraining us to live in righteousness, peace, 
and helpfulness with all mankind. In fact, it is 
not too much to claim that, outside of the human 
conscience itself, no agency or influence promotes 
social justice, social order, social stability, social 
freedom, social happiness, and social progress so 
directly, potently and widely as the great teach- 
ings and spirit of the Bible. This may seem 
extravagant language, but wherein should it be 
qualified ? 

An illustration may serve to fix the lesson here 
taught: The transformation of pig-iron into 
Bessemer steel involves a structural improvement 
in the material through the combustion or expul- 
sion, by fire and air, of the impurities contained 
in the crude ore — the sulphur, the silicon, the ex- 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 277 

cess of carbon, etc. So the transformation of so- 
ciety into the kingdom of heaven involves a 
structural improvement in the human race; and 
programmes for social betterment, however in- 
genious, must wait upon such an improvement, 
to a large extent, for their execution or success. 
Because the influence of the Bible tends vitally 
to effect precisely such a structural improvement 
in human character, the Bible promotes both in- 
dividual development and social advancement 
most surely and extensively. The world will 
have need of this influence long after many Uto- 
pian schemes have fascinated, failed, and disap- 
peared. 

5. Finally, the various merits indicated in the 
foregoing account culminate in the witness which 
the Bible bears to the spiritual realities of the uni- 
verse and of man's life in it, and in the spirit- 
ualizing influence which it thus exerts upon our 
whole civilization. The struggle between the 
flesh and the spirit, between the things of the 
body and the interests of the soul, is the perpet- 
ual struggle of humanity. Perhaps it was never 
more severe than at present. The increase of 
material commodities has stimulated physical de- 
sire, multiplying or extending wants beyond the 
possibility of immediate satisfaction; and the re- 
sult is, for the time being at least, a widespread 
discontent, an oppressive sense of failure because 
wealth is not accumulated for each, and a grow- 



278 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ing tendency to believe that might makes right in 
the domain of social and industrial life. All this 
is aggravated for many minds by the supposition 
that a materialistic philosophy of the universe is 
warranted by the disclosures of modern science 
— a supposition due mainly to the undigested 
knowledge thrown upon contemporary thought. 
Now the only effectual offset to such an atti- 
tude is a vital and profound spiritual reassurance, 
helping men to feel that they are spiritual beings, 
that mind is more than matter, that character is 
greater than riches, that morality is something 
vastly higher and more substantial than brute 
force and shrewdness, and that human destiny is 
far more glorious than an extinction of the soul 
when the body is buried in the earth. This re- 
assurance is afforded by the Bible through its 
awakening influence upon all the spiritual sus- 
ceptibilities of human nature; it arouses con- 
science, it quickens aspiration, it inculcates the 
sublime conception of a Divine Government, uni- 
versal and eternal, established in righteousness, 
inflexible and unwearied; and it instils a spirit 
of love and hope that both ennobles and encour- 
ages the mind amid its hard, baflling circum- 
stances. Thus it emphasizes character, exalts the 
ideal, enjoins the seeking of excellence rather 
than wealth or even happiness, and so strength- 
ens faith in the slow but sure triumph of truth 
and justice as to inspire an unswerving devotion 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 279 

to duty and an all-conquering patience in good 
works. Superadding to the motives and consid- 
erations prompting worthy conduct, which may 
be drawn from "the life that now is/' the tran- 
scendent inducements yielded by the belief in "the 
life that is to come," it deepens the conviction 
that man has a place of permanence, of dignity, 
and of ultimate victory in God's universe, and 
thereby sustains him in all his conflicts by filling 
his soul with "the power of an endless life." 
Then the things of time and sense drop into their 
proper rank of subordination, while the interests 
of mind and heart are appraised at their true 
value; then life takes on its due symmetry; a 
clear, high purpose defines all earnest endeavor, 
and serenity and strength come at last to reward 
the consecration of a human spirit made in the 
likeness of God and seeking to do God's will. 

If the Bible imbues individual men and women 
with this resolute and holy sense of their nature 
and their mission, it must surely touch all phases 
of their life and of the civilization which they 
help to mold with a spiritual glory that is of 
priceless worth. And surely our present civiliza- 
tion waits for just such a spiritualization. Its in- 
dustry, its wealth, its learning and art must be 
transmuted into character and joy ere it can 
reach the full fruition of the labor and suffering 
which have produced it. Neither sensualism, 
whether refined or coarse, for the individual, nor 



28o NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

turmoil for society, can be the ultimate goal of 
human development; every noble instinct in us 
cries out for something better, and all good in- 
fluences must work on for the realization of that 
"something better," however tedious may seem 
the process. Among these good influences that 
which emanates from the ideas, principles, and 
spirit of the Bible is one of the highest and 
strongest and tends most thoroughly to spiritual- 
ize all the interests and activities of mankind. 

There is something in the social atmosphere created 
by a widely diffused acquaintance with the Scriptures, 
which moderates the acerbity of economic strife, shames 
the arrogant selfishness of prosperity, and mitigates the 
embittered resentments of want. Far better than inter- 
mittent disquisitions from a supreme ecclesiastical author- 
ity is the stamping indelibly on the public conscience of 
that conception of human duty which is expressed in the 
gospel. This great service to peace and to social refor- 
mation is rendered by the Bible in the familiar usage of 
the people.^ 

In claiming so much as the foregoing pages 
assert respecting the service of the Bible to our 
own age, it is not meant to imply that everything 
in the Bible must be regarded as good and help- 
ful. On the contrary, we must frankly admit 
that much in the Scriptures is below the intellec- 
tual, moral, and religious level of our time. So 
palpable is this truth, when fairly considered, and 
so harmful may be a misunderstanding and mis- 

« Canon Hensley Henson, Contemporary Review, April, 1904. 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 281 

use of the Bible, that Count Leo Tolstoy, one of 

the loftiest spirits of our day, is led to exclaim: 

People talk of harmful books! But is there in Chris- 
tendom a book that has done more harm to mankind than 
this terrible book, called "Scripture History from the Old 
and New Testaments"? And all the men and women of 
Christendom have to pass through a course of this Scrip- 
ture History during their childhood, and this same history 
is also taught to ignorant adults as the first and most 
essential foundation of knowledge — as the one, eternal 
truth of God.' 

It is manifest, however, that the indictment here 
brought is occasioned, not by the Bible as a 
whole, but by the primitive and crude conceptions 
contained in some parts of it, and still more by 
the misinterpretation and abuse to which the 
Book has been subject. The indictment cannot 
stand a moment against such a conception and 
use of the Scriptures as the present writer is 
earnestly seeking to recommend; indeed, it only 
serves to emphasize the need of so educating the 
people as to enable them to see very clearly that 
the Bible is not all of one piece, and that the 
crudities and errors of early Hebrew thought are 
not to be elevated into equal importance with the 
teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Then 
they will see that those crudities and errors — in- 
tellectual, moral, religious — have been like the 
ways and stays for the launching of a ship — 
necessary, but temporary ; or they have served to 

3 See the whole article, "Leo Tolstoy's Appeal to the Clergy," 
open Court (Chicago), August, 1903. 



282 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

develop the great spiritual truths of the gospel, 
even as the corn-stalk serves to produce the 
ripened ear, being no longer needed after the 
fruit is gathered. 

While holding fast to all that has been said in 
appreciation of the service of the Bible to our 
own age, it will be well to remember that it is 
possible to depend too exclusively upon the Bible. 
For the Bible, at best, brings us a message out of 
the past. But we are living in the present, our 
interests are in the present, and God is in the 
present. Life is sacred here and now; the human 
soul has its daily experience in great, eternal spir- 
itual principles; the truth which ancient prophet 
and apostle taught we ourselves may find and 
prove if we will. Let man speak today — man the 
child of God, capable of hearing God's voice and 
of knowing God's will; let the present power of 
the Divine Spirit be felt, moving the soul of man 
to new insights and new achievements now. 
Then this living experience will be the clearest 
light in which the Bible may be read, and the 
surest proof of its holy lessons; and the Bible in 
turn will become chiefly a great instrument for 
awakening the spiritual susceptibilities of the 
soul, for attuning the inward ear, in order that 
it may hear the more distinctly the voice of the 
Lord God. Thus daily life and the Bible will act 
and react upon each other, supplement each 
other, and correct or confirm each other. Thus 



SERVICE OF THE BIBLE 283 

the Bible will render the highest of all its 
services to our own age by helping to put each 
one of us into a deeper conscious harmony and 
co-operation with Divine Providence amid the 
toils and conflicts of the present generation. So 
shall we find that 

The present moves attended 
With all of brave and excellent and fair 
That made the old time splendid. 



CHAPTER XII 

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE IN ITS MODERN 
ASPECTS 

Having obtained a clear conception of the rev- 
olution which is taking place in the thought of 
intelligent people regarding the nature of the 
Bible; and having tried to form a just estimate 
of the great service which the Sacred Volume has 
rendered to the interests of spiritual progress in 
the past, is still rendering at present, and is bound 
to render yet more largely in the future if we be 
not unfaithful to it, we are now prepared to con- 
sider the immediately practical question: How 
shall we seek to use this precious literature in 
order that it may most truly help us ? How shall 
we read it for our personal profit? How shall 
we teach it to our children? How shall we em- 
ploy it in the church and Sunday school? And 
what place, if any, shall we give it in our so- 
called secular education ? Evidently this question 
is of such moment as to demand the plainest, 
most careful, most candid answer that can be 
given it. One may well approach the task with 
diffidence, and yet with a serious resolution to 
express with perfect frankness the truth which 
he is sure ought to be uttered. 

I. Perhaps the very first thing to be said is, 
that we are not to be afraid of the truth. Every 
284 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 285 

enlightened person ought by this time to have 
been emancipated from all such fear. Yet the 
real timidity of many minds shows the need of 
reassurance. A kind of superstition still lingers 
in the realm of religious thought, though ban- 
ished from nearly every other. But slowly the 
influence of growing knowledge will dispel its 
last vestiges, and men will learn that they are 
not to dread the discovery of truth in any do- 
main. For when we consider how modern physi- 
cal science has opened the material universe to 
our view, at each successive stage disclosing new 
and marvelous truths which have been found in 
due time to establish a larger and grander har- 
mony with all other certainly known truths, we 
must have the utmost confidence that Truth is 
the one substantial reality in the universe, that 
Truth is of God, and that therefore every iota of 
truth is to be welcomed, whencesoever it may 
come. To beget such a confidence in our minds, 
and to inform and train us so that we can distin- 
guish between truth and error, are the chief ends 
of all our intellectual discipline. There can be no 
wholesome, happy study and growth in religion 
without this freedom. 

We are, then, first of all, to be open-minded 
and unafraid. The universe is overwhelmingly 
vast, mysterious, rich, glorious. It cannot pos- 
sibly be that any man, or any church or book, at 
any time in the past, has gathered up all that is 



286 NEW APPRECIATION OF THEyBIBLE 

to be known about it, or even about any portion 
of it. Forever it is to be expected that there is 
yet more light to break forth. Therefore we are 
to be students, learners, at once humble and bold ; 
proving all things, holding fast that which is 
good; willing to be corrected, but thoughtful, 
careful, and above all sincere. If we approach 
the Bible in this attitude, we shall find our doubts, 
perplexities, and anxieties giving way to^ in- 
creasing illumination, grovv^ing knowledge, and 
deepening satisfaction. 

2. Perhaps the next thing to be said is, that, 
for the general reader, especially if past the peri- 
od of youth, there is need of a simple Introduc- 
tion to the Study of the Bible, containing a clear 
sketch of its external history, a plain account of 
the traditional view of it, an explanation of the 
development of the modern view, an indication 
of the real but great value of this ancient liter- 
ature, and a trustworthy guide to a correct 
method in reading it. There are, to be sure, 
numerous Introductions of an elaborate and 
scholarly character that have served in theologi- 
cal seminaries and for advanced students; but, 
mostly, they are unsuitable for popular use, and 
too often are vitiated by the old and invalid con- 
ception of the nature of the Bible. Such a hand- 
book as is here proposed is admirably supplied, 
as far as it goes, in Professor Walter F. Adeney's 
little l3ook entitled Hozv to Read the Bible; ^ but 

1 New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1897. 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 287 

it does not cover quite so much ground as is de- 
sirable, though it deserves to be in the hands of 
every parent and Sunday-school teacher. Doubt- 
less the more complete treatment of the intro- 
ductoi:y matter required will be forthcoming ere 
long; and even now, if one is really interested to 
study — and not much can be done for anyone 
who is not really interested — there is an abund- 
ance of instructive, explanatory material, which 
may serve to guide the reader of the Scriptures 
to an understanding of their origin, history, char- 
acter, value, and best uses. The main thing 
needed by each person, after all, is a genuine de- 
sire to get the message and the blessing which 
the Bible contains. 

3. Another general fact to be borne in mind 
is, that a proper comprehension of the Bible de- 
mands considerable information respecting its 
historical origin. Let not this remark frighten 
anyone. It does not mean that every man must 
be an erudite scholar in order to derive any ben- 
efit or enjoyment from the Sacred Writings, for 
such an implication would be far from the truth. 
Neither does it mean that the great, heart-search- 
ing utterances in which the Scriptures abound 
cannot make themselves felt with impressive 
power and helpfulness even to the uneducated, so 
true to life in all its deeper experiences are they. 
Rather, the thought is that, taking up the Bible 
as literature, we are to remember that it is an 



288 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ancient literature; produced by a people of an- 
tiquity who lived within a definite historical en- 
vironment; and bearing-, therefore, the indelible 
stamp of the social, national, and international 
setting, and of the prevalent ideas, beliefs, and 
aspirations, which belonged to the age or ages 
that yielded it. Accordingly we need to know 
something about all these facts and circum- 
stances, at least in a general way ; and there is so 
much more to be known now than formerly con- 
cerning that remote past, partly long-buried, that 
not only is such intelligence at once more neces- 
sary and more accessible, but it is also' more 
interesting and enjoyable, than heretofore; and 
consequently ignorance is the less excusable. 

Of course the extent of the knowledge to be 
thus sought must depend a little on what you 
read the Bible for. If you are reading mainly 
for spiritual quickening and comfort, for devo- 
tional purposes, you will not need so much of this 
historical information as if studying expressly to 
ascertain the meaning of the various biblical au- 
thors in the light of their times and conditions. 
Still, in any case, without a reasonable under- 
standing of the character of the peculiar soil in 
which the Bible grew, you will be liable to wan- 
der into the widest and wildest vagaries in seek- 
ing to interpret and apply its teachings. What 
misconstructions of the Prophets, for example, 
have resulted from failure in this regard! The 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 289 

Story of the misuse and abuse of the Bible, the 
wresting and perversion of its contents, the build- 
ing-up of vast systems of half-truths, is a long 
and sorry one; and the only sure corrective of 
them and protection against them, one and all, 
is the thorough historical knowledge here 
contended for. 

4. The next advice to be given is to approach 
the Bible frankly as a human literature. Let all 
thought of its divine character, of its containing 
"the Word of God," wait. If it really possesses a 
divine character, it will speak for itself: let it 
speak, let it make its own impression. If it con- 
tains a message from God, can we not trust God 
to make himself heard ? At any rate, as has 
been frequently remarked, whatever else the 
Bible may be, or may be thought to be, it comes 
to us as literature first of all — as a work in human 
language, growing out of the deep and varied 
experiences of human souls, full of the lights and 
shadows of human hope and fear, joy and sor- 
row, love and hate, goodness and wickedness. 
Let it be taken up and read simply as such. If 
God is in it, he will find us. If the great spirit 
of the Bible is the Spirit of the Divine Life, our 
hearts will soon know it; and it is far better to 
feel God in the Bible, in the world, in our lives, 
than to have him too much pointed out and ex- 
plained to us. Just read the Bible as you read 
the Book of Nature — contemplate it, feel it, 



290 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

yield yourself up to its influence, learn to love it, 
caress it, and let its mighty heart-beat reach your 
soul: you will quickly find that it speaks to you 
as no other literature does, and fills you with a 
strength you have not gained in any other way. 
Then, after much experience in such communion 
with the spirit of the Bible, formulate — if you 
wish — your thought or theory of the inspiration 
and the revelation contained in its hallowed 
pages. When you come to do this you will avail 
yourself of the thought of others, and will seek 
all the information you can appropriate to en- 
lighten and validate your own conception. The 
great advantage of this method will be found to 
consist in the production of fresh, natural ideas 
and convictions, growing out of original, per- 
sonal experience under the impression made by 
the Bible itself, rather than a set of notions and 
beliefs taken on from other men's experiences 
and theories, with which you suppose your own 
must be made to square. 

Following these general counsels, a few spe- 
cific directions may be properly given. 

a) It is not best to try to read the Bible 
through by rote. That is the old-fashioned way, 
and, of course, it is far better than no way at all ; 
moreover, it is consistent enough with the tradi- 
tional conception of the nature of the Bible. But 
it is not consistent with the new conception, and 
entails a needless waste of time and energy. 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 291 

What we want to get out of the Bible mainly is 
its great spirit, its potent influence, its sublime 
teaching ; and we shall most quickly and surely do 
this by taking the salient portions and grasping 
the underlying, pervading truths that run through 
the Scriptures like threads of gold in the warp 
and woof of some antique tapestry. Read the 
Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, the Samuels, and the 
Kings for the historical narratives of the Old 
Testament — read them at first without any refer- 
ence to the analysis into their component parts; 
and later read them in their analyzed form, as 
given in Professor W. E. Addis' Documents of 
the Hexateuch, or in Professor Charles Foster 
Kent's The Student's Old Testament? Read the 
Psalms for the devotional spirit ; read the Proph- 
ets for the spirit of patriotism and religious 
faith and fortitude; read the gospels, of course, 
for the beautiful life-story of Jesus, and for his 
heavenly teaching; read the Acts for the narra- 
tive of the planting of the Christian Church ; read 
the epistles of Paul and John and Peter for spir- 
itual inspiration, admonition, and comfort. Read 
for nourishment as well as for information; and 
therefore read what you are hungry for, what 
really feeds you — different portions at different 
times. 

h) Another important direction is, to read the 

2 Logically and chronologically arranged and translated, Scrib- 
ner, 1904. 



292 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Bible in generous allotments. Unfortunately, 
we have fallen into the practice of reading only- 
detached and very small fragments, selected 
from various books in a series of very slightly 
related passages, that can scarcely fail to confuse 
and bewilder adults as well as children. It has 
been a baneful method, breaking up all sense of 
wholeness or continuity in contemplating any 
given writing in the Bible; and to it must be as- 
cribed no small part of the lack of real knowl- 
edge and real appreciation of the literary struc- 
ture of the Sacred Volume, of which we hear fre- 
quent complaints today as prevailing even among 
college students and many church people. We 
cannot too quickly begin to counteract the evil by 
teaching the young to read the Bible itself, in- 
stead of lesson leaves, and also to read long or 
large portions of the Scriptures continuously. 
For example, let the entire story of Joseph be 
read at one or two, not more than three, sittings ; 
the story of the plagues in Egypt and the flight 
of the Israelites, at a single sitting; and the ac- 
count of the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, in 
perhaps a couple of sittings. Likewise, from the 
New Testament, let a number of chapters from 
the gospels be read at a stretch, taking Mark 
first; follow with the book of Acts in the same 
way ; and take - extended sections of the great 
epistles, and of the shorter epistles read the 
whole at a time. In this way some sense of 



; HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 293 

totality, of literary continuity and comprehen- 
siveness in each production, will be acquired. 
Better still, we shall thus be likely to read the 
Bible enough to be saturated with its noble 
thought and spirit, which is the main thing, 
after all, for us to seek. 

This rule becomes especially urgent if one is 
to gain any just notion of the peculiarities of the 
different biblical writers — their characteristics of 
style, their ruling ideas, their points of view. 
For they are not all alike in these respects. There 
is a wide dissimilarity between Deuteronomy and 
Job, for example, or between Isaiah and Ecclesi- 
astes ; and, in the New Testament, between Mark 
and John, or between Luke and the Epistle to the 
Hebrews. Now a large part of the profit in read- 
ing the Bible lies in appreciating the real distinc- 
tions thus appearing in its various books — in un- 
derstanding the actual qualities which make 
Paul's writings different from those of any other 
author, or which render the Gospel and the let- 
ters of John unique, or which put a stamp of in- 
dividuality upon the books of Chronicles. Both 
the intellectual and the religious benefits accruing 
are sure to be greater under such intelligent dis- 
crimination than under the old notion of uniform- 
ity. I can respond to the spiritual sublimity of II 
Isaiah more earnestly when I know it as a dif- 
ferent work from I Isaiah, and thus know its his- 
torical origin and its characteristics, than when 



294 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

supposing the whole book which bears the name 
of Isaiah, consisting of sixty-six chapters, to be 
one and the same work, by one and the same 
author. So I can derive much greater help from 
Paul when I understand him as Paul than when 
I thoughtlessly assume him to be just like John or 
Peter or James. The remark applies generally 
throughout the Scriptures. The interest of the 
reader will be heightened, his moral perception 
will be sharpened, and his religious insight will 
become deeper and clearer when he is taught to 
observe real distinctions in this varied literature 
than if allowed to reduce it all to one common 
level. 

c) A good practical rule also is to read vari- 
ous translations. Happily we now have several 
of these in the English language. If you desire 
to read for intellectual as well as for moral and 
religious profit, it will be well to begin with the 
American Revision, on account of its accuracy, 
its proper paragraphing, its indication of quota- 
tions and of poetic forms, and its use of the word 
"Jehovah" in the Old Testament, in place of the 
word "Lord," for the name of the Hebrew 
deity. If you are reading for devotional pur- 
poses mainly, and love the old forms of expres- 
sion, read the Authorized Version, noble and im- 
pressive in its somewhat antique yet stately idiom. 
If you wish to understand the historical occasions 
of the production of some of the books of the 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 295 

Old Testament, read the paraphrases in the se- 
ries of volumes by Professors Sanders and Kent, 
entitled Messages of the Bible; or if you want 
to understand the scholarly analysis of the Old 
Testament books into their component parts, take 
the new series of volumes already referred to, en- 
titled The Student's Old Testament, by Professor 
Kent.^ It is interesting and often instructive to 
read the Psalms as given in the Book of Common 
Prayer, in the translation made by Miles Cover- 
dale in 1535. In the New Testament, if one de- 
sires a fresh, vivid rendering, in the language of 
today, he may find much value in The Twentieth 
Century Nezv Testament. The gospels as here 
printed show their fragmentary character very 
clearly. The work has been used with great ad- 
vantage in Sunday-school classes of children 
from ten to thirteen years of age; the boys and 
girls were intensely interested in the story of 
Paul's life and work, as well as in the broken 
sketches of the Master's career. For children 
also an admirable work is The Bible for Chil- 
dren,^ comprising nearly all the portions of 
Scripture, from both Testaments, which are 
really suitable for the young to read, and fur- 
nished in most attractive typographical form. An 
excellent series of paraphrases of the leading Old 
Testament stories, chosen for their value in the 

3 The first volume of this splendid work has just come to 
hand as these pages are being written (1904). 
* Published by the Century Company, 1902. 



296 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

moral education of the young, is the small volume 
of Bible Stories, by Mr. Walter L. Sheldon.^ 

By employing such a variety of translations, 
the individual reader or the class may easily ac- 
quire much important knowledge about the 
structure of the Bible, and by comparing one ren- 
dering with another may often gain a better con- 
ception of the meaning and the teaching of a 
given passage than could possibly be obtained in 
any other way. This method is preferable to the 
use of commentaries, because it trains the reader 
to ascertain what the Bible really says, and tO' let 
it speak for itself and make its own impression. 
Thus it enhances both interest and profit. 

d) A caution may be properly given, to be- 
ware of the interpreters of the Bible who appear 
to be infallible J and who build complete and final 
systems of science or philosophy or theology out 
of it. Their name has been legion, and in the 
past they have wrought gross perversions; in- 
deed, the bane of biblical interpretation has nearly 
always been just this passion for system-building. 
Fortunately, it is now beginning to weaken, un- 
der the influence of the New Learning, and con- 
sequently we shall soon witness the collapse of 
some stupendous, time-honored schemes of doc- 
trine. Yet others may arise to take their place, 
as even our own age abundantly warns us; for 
Adventism still lingers, and Christian Science 

B 1902 (W. M. Welch & Co., Chicago). 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 297 

grows apace. But the whole tendency to build 
such systems, which was fostered by the old con- 
ception of the Bible, is utterly discouraged by the 
new conception; and in proportion as the reader 
apprehends the new view, and learns to use the 
Bible in the new way, he will find himself safe- 
guarded against being swept off his feet by any 
ambitious, comprehensive scheme, claiming to be 
the one sure key to unlock the mystery of the 
Scriptures and reveal the meaning of the uni- 
verse, and promising the complete redemption of 
the world. 

e) A suggestion worth considering, by min- 
isters especially, is to give interpretative Bible 
readings. If a minister is fairly educated in the 
modern view of the Scriptures, and is a good 
reader, he can greatly interest, instruct, and spir- 
itually help his people by giving them occasion- 
ally, in classes or groups, extended readings with 
very brief explanatory introductions and com- 
ments. For instance, if he desires to illustrate the 
literary beauty of the Bible, let him read the book 
of Ruth in this manner; or the entire story of 
Joseph; or the account of the relations and the 
friendship of David and Jonathan. To illustrate 
the moral sublimity of the Scriptures, take those 
parts of Deuteronomy which Professor ]\Ioulton 
calls "The Orations of Moses," using the little 
volume Deuteronomy in "The Modern Reader's 
Bible;" or take selections from I Isaiah or II 



298 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Isaiah, or, indeed, almost any of the Prophets. 
To illustrate the religious power of the Bible, one 
may turn naturally tO' the Psalms; or to the par- 
ables of Jesus ; or to some of the earnest appeals 
in Paul's epistles. Here is a sample oi a single 
reading from the gospels, as once given by the 
present writer, with much satisfaction, as a part 
oi his Lenten work : 

BIBLE READING I 

The Gospel According to Mark 

(From the Twentieth Century New Testament.) 

1. Brief Introduction. 

a) Author. 

b) Date — 65-75 A. d. 

c) Characteristics: 
i) Simplicity. 

2) Mainly narrative. 

3) Graphic, vivid style, 

4) Frequent mention of casting out evil spirits. 

2. The Reading: 

Chap. I — vii. 12. The early work in Galilee. 

3. Further Reading: 
vii. 23 — chap. ix. 

The above is merely a hint of what may easily 
be done, to the profit of both reader and hearer. 
Another instructive reading from the gospels 
may be made from Luke ix. 51 — xix. 2y, con- 
taining what Professor Adeney styles "Luke*s 
New Contribution to the Gospel History" — al- 
though the material is extensive enough for two 
or perhaps three readings. 



HOW TO READ THE BIBLE 299 

Professor Richard G. Tvloulton has given, in a 
single evening, an interpretative reading of the 
book of Job, which has been illuminating, inter- 
esting, and religiously impressive to his auditors. 
Others have done similar work even more exten- 
sively; and there is no good reason why an intel- 
ligent pastor might not employ such a means for 
the intellectual and spiritual culture of his people. 

In addition to the foregoing practical counsels 
and suggestions, it remains only to urge two se- 
rious thoughts. 

1. R::.:! :':c Blhle diligently. Do not discard 
it wh:"-y f :r the newspaper, the magazine, or the 
moder:: b::k. Do not neglect it. Read it pri- 
vately : read it freely ; read it both for instruction 
and for spiritual enrichment. It is one of the 
world's great classics — taken all in all, it is justly 
regarded as the world's greatest literature. No 
one can ancr:' :? e? without its quickening, re- 
straining, guiding, comforting, sanctifying influ- 
ence. Let it have its due place of honor and power 
in each life and in each home. It will abundantly 
repay the esteem and devotion accorded it by hal- 
lowing all thought and affection, and by helping 
the human soul to realize its divine mission. 

2. But let the light of truth from any and all 
other sources blend zinth the light that shines 
from the pages of the Bible. Stupendous de- 
velopments have taken place since these ancient 



300 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Scriptures were produced. Greece and Rome 
have transmitted and diffused their respective 
legacies; the nations of modern Europe have 
arisen ; the Protestant Reformation has occurred ; 
America has sprung up here in the West ; science 
has been born with its own new and glorious 
revelation of God's works and ways; and at 
length the gates are unbarred in every land, and 
the heralds of truth are entering into every 
corner of the earth, and "the people that sat in 
darkness have seen a great light." 

All these significant events and achievements 
have their ministry for our minds and hearts; 
they all bring us messages from out the wondrous 
Book of Human Life; and we must seek to un- 
derstand them aright, and to let them modify 
as they must the peculiar and most valuable 
teaching which it has been the mission of the 
Chosen People of old to give the world. We may 
rest assured that all that is true in the Bible is in 
harmony with all other truth, and is permanent. 
While many of the historical accidents and inci- 
dents of these venerable Writings must be al- 
lowed to fall away, as of a transient character 
and service, yet the living and mighty spirit that 
throbs through them will still pulsate side by side 
with all other good influences, will still thrill our 
souls with the power of the Divine Life, bearing 
witness with our spirit that we are children of 
God, and will thus continue to guide our feet into 
the way of peace. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE BIBLE IN THE 
SUNDAY SCHOOL 

Among the practical problems involved in the 
new views of the Bible which modern learning 
compels us to take none is in greater need of se- 
rious consideration than the one here propounded. 
It brings up the whole subject of the moral and 
religious education of the young, the function of 
the Sunday school in subserving this high inter- 
est, the value of the Holy Scriptures as an instru- 
ment therefor, and especially the right and wrong 
ways in which they may be employed. It is ap- 
parent at once that the large and vital questions 
thus raised open room for wide differences of 
opinion, and that the judgment which any man 
may render must be colored by his personal tem- 
perament, his experience, and his convictions re- 
garding human nature, true religion, educational 
processes, and the peculiar conditions and re- 
quirements of the age in which he lives. The ut- 
most I can hope for is a careful and candid state- 
ment, with perhaps a few particular applications, 
of those leading ideas and principles which I be- 
lieve to furnish a valid guidance for parents and 
teachers who desire to do wisely and well their 
human part in the very delicate and important 
work of shaping the spiritual development of 
301 



302 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the children committed to them a little while for 
nurture and instruction. 

At the outset we need to understand that the 
real end to be sought in all our moral and re- 
ligious dealings with the young is, or should be, 
the very thing which I have just mentioned — 
spiritual development. To be sure, this is pre- 
cisely one of the points at which some of those 
differences of opinion to which I have alluded are 
bound to occur : one man will say that our busi- 
ness with our children is simply to make good Ro- 
man Catholics of them; another, good Episco- 
palians; another, good Universalists ; another, 
good Christian Scientists; and still another, 
good citizens. But I should say that each of these 
results is too narrow, if the human soul is spirit- 
ual and immortal, with a capacity for growth to 
which we cannot set limits, and if also the spirit 
of liberty means anything great and potent. 
Holding such a view of man's nature, and of the 
worth of freedom in his life, I cannot doubt that 
the true goal which God sets before him, and 
which parents and teachers are to have in mind 
for their children, is the full, harmonious, contin- 
uous development of all the potential good that 
lies wrapped up within one of these mysterious 
beings that we dare believe to have been made in 
the divine image. None of us can say how vast, 
rich, manifold such a development may be; we 
are entirely warranted in believing that the pos- 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 303 

sibilities of every soul for noble attainment far 
surpass our highest ideals; and if we could look 
upon each human child as Jesus Christ looked 
upon men, knowing "what was in man," we 
should undoubtedly cherish a more sublime faith, 
hope, and love for each than we have ever 
dreamed. 

Conceiving thus the best spiritual develo^p- 
ment of which human nature is susceptible as the 
real and inclusive object of moral and religious 
education, we need also to understand that such 
a development may be promoted, such an educa- 
tion supplied, in a variety of ways. The home, 
the so-called secular school, general reading, the 
influence of society at large, the influence of na- 
ture, the work of life, the deep promptings of the 
spirit of man, the holy aspirations and beautiful 
ideals that lift and lure the soul, the joys and sor- 
rows that the years inevitably bring, the sins, con- 
tritions, and retributions of which all have some 
experience, and chiefly "the inspiration of the 
Almighty" — these are some of the means which 
may contribute to the unfolding of the divine po- 
tentialities of the human being ; and I often think 
that they constitute the principal means, after all, 
for what President Hyde has well called "God's 
education of man." 

But we are next to note that the Christian 
Church is a powerful agency that aims directly 
and specifically at the same great result — the spir- 



304 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

itual development of mankind. And the Chris- 
tian Church has estabhshed, in these modern 
times, the institution of the Sunday school to 
serve still more particularly in this capacity for 
the moral and religious education of the young. 
How far this modern institution in the church 
really fulfils a valuable function/ what are its 
palpable defects, how these may be remedied, or 
what other agency may be substituted for the 
school as now ordinarily conducted — these are 
grave questions, but they cannot be properly 

1 The following trenchant criticism of the Sunday school, 
taken from an epitomized report of a sermon by the Reverend 
C. F. Aked (Baptist), published in the London Christian World, 
July 7, 1904, indicates the gravity of the question: 

"He expresses his doubt as to whether there is a Sunday 
school in Great Britain which is efficient. Nearly always (he 
says) the premises are inadequate. The funds are inadequate. 
The teaching staff is inadequate. The books are inadequate. The 
actual teaching is inadequate. Everything is inadequate about it. 
The Sunday school is the home of reaction and obscurantism. 
Thoughts which have been accepted by every educated pulpit in 
every denomination in the country are taught in the Sunday 
school, for the children to unlearn as soon as they listen to the 
first street-corner sceptic. Usually the best people in the churches 
do not come into the Sunday schools. Those with the most 
money, and therefore able to help in many kindly ways; those with 
the best homes, and able to invite there the children who have 
less home life of their own; those with most leisure, and there- 
fore able to take a personal interest in the welfare of each child; 
those with best education and with trained ability refuse to enter 
the doors of the Sunday school. Perhaps 20 per cent, of the 
teaching staff of the Sunday schools of the country may be drawn 
from these more favored classes. Not less than 80 per cent, has 
been made up of the humbler workers. For them, all honor and 
all praise! *I know no Christian worker whom I hold in higher 
honour. They do their work under every disadvantage; their 
rewards are long in coming; their praise is not of men. All 
honour to them! But their honour is the shame of men and 
women better qualified to do their work. Do you wonder that the 
Sunday school is a problem?' " 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 305 

treated here. It must be assumed that the Sun- 
day school is in the great majority of our 
churches to stay for the present, and probably 
for a long time. 

Now the Sunday school uses the Bible as 
its chief tool in prosecuting its work. It uses 
other tools also^ — service-books, song-books, lesson 
papers, and explanatory material, pictures, maps, 
story papers, library books, festival occasions, and 
above all living officers and teachers, who speak 
out of their real lives and characters, for good or 
ill; but all these subordinate tools are related to 
the great tool, the Bible, are imbued more or less 
with its ideas and spirit, and are designed to 
inculcate its wonderful truths. 

Why do we give the Bible such a predominant 
place in the work of the Sunday school ? It will 
be worth while to answer this question carefully. 
And of course the comprehensive answer is : Be- 
cause we have derived our religious conceptions 
and convictions mainly from this Sacred Volume. 
Nearly all we know about Christianity and its 
mother-religion Judaism has reached us, directly 
and indirectly, through these Holy Scriptures; 
and it is certain that our best impulses, our no- 
blest beliefs, and our purest affections are contin- 
ually nourished and strengthened from the same 
great source. So true is this that I suppose not 
one person in a thousand, in our own part of the 
world, ever imagines that we should have any 



3o6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

religion at all if it were not for the Bible. But I 
have asked the question: "Why do we give the 
Bible such a predominant place in the work of the 
Sunday school?" exactly for the purpose of ar- 
resting attention and exciting thought at this 
very point. For until we see that religion and 
morality are at least possible without the Bible, 
we shall not make them what they ought to be 
with the Bible. By this I mean that there is 
something deeper in human life than either the 
Bible or the church, namely, the ethical and re- 
ligious instinct, out of which both the Bible and 
the church have sprung, and which would still 
be one of the mightiest forces in the world even 
if there were no Bible and noi church. The recog- 
nition of this fundamental fact is the very first 
condition of making a riglit use of the Bible, and 
of correcting the abuses to which we so often sub- 
ject both it and those whom we teach from it. 
Here, then, is the bedrock upon which we must 
stand: Man is a moral and religious being by 
nature; in his own soul are spiritual impulses, 
promptings, intuitions, aspirations ; and Bibles, 
churches, and teachers are merely helps, to wake 
him up, enlighten him, guide him, bless him. 
This clear, simple, profound and vital truth is the 
one which, more than any other that I can state, 
needs due appreciation in the religious thinking 
of our time; and when duly appreciated, it will 
do more than any other to clarify religious dis- 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 307 

cussion and instruction. It is the great central 
truth in all the new, valid thought of the present 
age. 

Now consider the bearing of this fundamental 
principle upon the use of the Bible in the Sunday- 
school. 

1. At once we see that the most important 
object in the Sunday school is not the Bible, but 
the child. This little human being, with all his 
capacities and powers, this living creature made 
in the likeness of God, with unmeasured possi- 
bilities for good or evil, is here before us, the real 
center of all our interest; and what for? I an- 
swer : To be helped, especially in the direction of 
spiritual development; to be awakened, enlight- 
ened, strengthened, guided in the way of a true 
moral and religious life. The teacher is here be- 
side this child, meeting him on the basis of inter- 
est and love, for the express purpose of trying to 
help him thus. Let the teacher never forget this 
fact, let the whole school remember it always — 
the central object of our concern is the living 
individual child. 

2. Down deep in the heart of this child, hid- 
den from the superficial gaze and but half recog- 
nized by the clearest insight, are native instincts, 
latent potentialities, vague, flitting feelings and 
longings, slowly forming into tendencies, ex- 
pressing themselves in actions, and later develop- 
ing habits and producing character. No man 



3o8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

knows all of the good or evil that may come out of 
that little child's heart; but we do know, at least 
we are absolutely to trust, that there is something 
divinely noble and beautiful there to which the 
wise and loving teacher may appeal. This is the 
most precious and sacred fact that claims our at- 
tention; it is prior to all Bibles, churches, and 
schools; and we must not fail to keep it dis- 
tinctly in view in the presence of all our methods 
and mechanisms. 

3. As already intimated, the teacher's main 
task is to do what he can, by wisdom and affec- 
tion, to shape the unfolding of these inner spir- 
itual tendencies of the child's nature; to awaken 
the divine voices in the chambers of his little soul ; 
to strike the finer chords of his being, whose mu- 
sic is the sweetest and holiest that he may ever 
hear; to help him understand the sacred and au- 
gust meaning of all his purest desires and convic- 
tions — in short, to bring him to moral and reli- 
gious self-consciousness, so that he shall know 
himself as a spiritual being and be able at length 
to guide himself securely amid the temptations 
and duties of life. Such ought to be every teach- 
er's intelligent aim, such his passionate desire, if 
he really seeks to help his pupils. Need I say 
that it is the most delicate and difficult, as it is 
the most blessed, service in all the world ? Alas, 
that we blunder at it as we do ! 

4. In seeking to perform this vital service for 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 309 

the child, the teacher and the school have two 
particular things to do, namely, to nurture the 
child and to instruct him. The two processes are 
closely related, but are not identical. True, there 
is a sense in which all instruction, if it be real, is 
nourishing; and yet it is not always or altogether 
so. Instruction consists mainly in imparting in- 
formation; and information is not so much food 
as it is the raw material of food. At any rate 
I am sure there are ways of so presenting great, 
divine truths and ideals to the human soul as to 
nourish it in virtue, grace, and love, feeding 
it with what we justly call "the bread of 
life;" and there are other ways of so presenting 
them as merely to engage the contemplation of 
the mind and afford a correct intellectual view. 
I am equally sure that these two processes need 
to go together — the impartation of truth, and the 
inculcation of the spirit of truth ; but I think that 
what young children chiefly need is nutriment 
rather than information. In other words, we 
should warm their little hearts with love, and 
nourish them in goodness, and strengthen them 
with high and righteous purposes before we try 
to give their minds a knowledge of many facts 
or a critical view of life's problems. 

Now, if all this is plain, we are prepared to see 
why we should use the Bible in the Sunday school, 
why we must not use it too much, and how we 
may best use it. 



3IO NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

I. Remembering that the nature and welfare 
of the child come first, and that the Sunday- 
school exists for the purpose of ministering to 
his spiritual development, we are to use the Bible 
simply as a help to this end, and because it is a 
great, mighty, blessed help. It is such a help be- 
cause it is so full of spiritual power; it throbs 
with the sense of righteousness, with faith in 
God, with the longing after a good life; and if 
we read it so as to drink in its spirit, or study it so 
as to appreciate its true teachings, we soon find 
that it powerfully quickens our native sense of 
right and wrong, vivifies our purest ideals of 
worthy living, makes us feel the presence of God 
in the affairs of this turbulent world, and shows 
us the pathway that leads the individual soul and 
the human race toward light and peace. No 
other literature was ever so rich and strong in 
these respects. To feed ourselves upon it, to in- 
stil its spirit into the hearts of our children, is to 
quicken and invigorate every noble impulse in us 
and them. To imbue our nation with its prin- 
ciples is to help our nation to be reverent, serious, 
honest, virtuous, fraternal, benevolent. It were 
almost impossible for any people or any person 
to drink long, deep draughts from this fountain 
without experiencing a life-giving influence of 
priceless value. 

It is because the Bible has proved itself, 
through centuries of use, among all sorts and con- 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 311 

ditions of men, in nearly every land on the face 
of the earth, to possess this power and to pro- 
duce in some degree these effects, that we are 
warranted in continuing to employ it in our Sun- 
day schools as our chief instrumentality for min- 
istering to the moral and religious education of 
the young. Its solemn, impressive words make 
our liturgies and inspire our songs as no others 
are able to do ; every mood of the soul, from peni- 
tence and grief to victory and joy, can express 
itself with wonderful felicity and variety in 
phrases or sentences culled from its pages; and 
the spell which its stately language and its exalted 
thoughts weave over our hearts brings us into 
communion with divine things, hallowed and 
beautiful, such as we scarcely ever realize in any 
other way — such as only Nature can afford us 
when we are in our finest, most receptive, most 
responsive attitude. Indeed, without the Bible to 
prompt our worship and guide our meditation, it 
is altogether likely that we should not see one- 
half of the spiritual meaning which we now read 
in the great Book of Nature. The Bible helps us 
to interpret Nature divinely, as it likewise helps 
us to interpret life and our own souls and the uni- 
verse divinely. For all these reasons, and the 
many that go with them, we use the Bible in the 
Sunday school, and feel that nothing else can take 
its place. And yet it is only a help, a tool, in the 
hands of living men and women to minister to the 
spiritual development of the young. 



312 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

2. But we must not use the Bible too exclu- 
sively. It is entirely possible, even easy, to do so. 
Remembering that the Bible is not the source of 
the ethical and religious impulses of the human 
soul, but merely an instrumentality for their re- 
inforcement, we must always pay chief attention 
to this living word of God that is written and en- 
graven, not on tables of stone, not on rolls of 
parchment, not on printed pages, but "in fleshly 
tables of the heart" — the freshest and most po- 
tent of all divine influences for every spiritual 
child of the Eternal Father. It is here, if any- 
where, that God and man must meet — in the in- 
ner sanctuary, the true "holy of holies," of each 
human life; it is here that each of us must learn 
somehow to feel, recognize, and understand God; 
it is here, in these deepest and most august ex- 
periences, that "the Spirit beareth witness with 
our spirit that we are children of God." If we 
allow the Bible or any other external agency to 
come too abruptly or too frequently into this pri- 
vate sanctuary, we put something between our- 
selves and our Father which may possibly hinder 
rather than help our communion ; and if we thrust 
the Bible or any other agency thus between the 
little child and the great God, we may prevent 
the very thing we want mainly to secure — ^the 
child's reverent hearing and glad recognition of 
the living voice of its heavenly Father. Here is 
our perplexing paradox: No Bible, no church, 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 313 

no minister must be permitted to stand between 
the human soul and God to separate the two ; and 
yet all Bibles, all churches, all ministers must be 
welcomed to stand between them to bring them 
together. 

Again, if we use the Bible too exclusively, we 
shall almost inevitably convey the impression that 
the Bible and religion are identical, that we are 
necessarily studying and teaching religion when 
we are studying and teaching the Bible ; whereas 
such is not the case. The Bible is an historical 
product of the religious spirit; as such it is of 
measureless worth, because bearing so clear and 
copious a witness to God's dealings with a certain 
race, or with certain races, and likewise with 
many individuals, in the remote past; but it is 
not itself religion, and we must guard against the 
notion that God confined his dealings and his dis- 
closures to the Israelites of two and three thou- 
sand years ago; also we must guard against the 
notion that whatever belonged to the Israelites — 
their land, which they took by violence from the 
Canaanites, their battles and intrigues, their crude 
and erroneous conceptions of the universe — must 
necessarily have been religious and acceptable in 
the sight of God. What we really want to make 
sure of is that we and our children shall see that, 
as God dealt with the Israelitish people in the 
olden time, and made known to them somewhat 
of his truth and will, so does he deal with all 



314 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

peoples today, and unfold his great, holy purposes 
for their guidance and blessing. To this end we 
need constantly to translate history into experi- 
ence, to interpret history in the light of experi- 
ence, to read the story of God's ways in the past 
in the light of his ways with us here and now. 
Surely, if we thus learn to find God in the life of 
the present, for ourselves individually, for our 
own country, and for the whole modern world, 
we shall not fail to trace his handiwork among 
the nations of antiquity, even more widely than 
Israel ever dreamed. 

3. From these reflections it becomes apparent 
that we shall best use the Bible in the Sunday 
school by using it discriminatingly, selectively, 
yet comprehensively, and above all vitally. 

a) We must discriminate between true and 
false, good and bad, high and low in its contents ; 
for ,they are not uniform and equal. For in- 
stance, take the conduct of Jacob in defrauding 
his brother Esau by deceiving their aged father 
Isaac at the instigation of their mother Rebekah : 
if there is any reason for presenting this story at 
all to young children, and if it is to be studied 
by older pupils, the whole case should be brought 
squarely to the bar of their intelligence and con- 
science for just judgment; and even very young 
children may be enabled to see and feel that the 
conduct of Jacob and Rebekah was grossly repre- 
hensible. No hesitation should be indulged in 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 315 

pronouncing this verdict, when fairly and sin- 
cerely reached, because forsooth Jacob became 
the servant of Jehovah for great ends; he did 
not become such a servant because of this decep- 
tion, but rather in spite of it ; and the religiously 
valuable truth may be impressed, that God often 
uses imperfect and very faulty men to work out 
his vast purposes, but their faults and sins are 
nevertheless to be condemned and do really 
hinder the divine plans. 

Similar distinctions, intellectual or moral, will 
occur frequently in the Bible narratives : for ex- 
ample, in the story of Rahab, the harlot, when 
she hid the spies and lied about it ; in the accounts 
of the ruthless slaughter of people and animals 
by Joshua's conquering armies; in the tale of 
David's wicked act of procuring Uriah's death; 
and — not to mention many others — in the New 
Testament record of Peter's base denial of the 
Master. All these, just because they involve 
such distinctions, which appeal to the sense of 
right and justice in the human soul, are most in- 
structive instances of conduct ; but to fail to bring 
them out, to fail to evoke the honest judgment of 
the young regarding them, is to make well-nigh 
a total failure in their use as material for moral 
and religious education. Even as children must 
be taught to discriminate and judge justly in 
regard to the words and deeds of living men and 
women in the world around them today, so must 



3i6 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

they be helped to do with respect to the char- 
acters that come before them in the Bible. 
Nothing is more important than to acquire the 
habit of sincerely trying thus to judge justly 
about people and questions in everyday life; and 
the study of the Bible, if pursued in this way, 
may be made to contribute effectually and abund- 
antly to such a discipline. But the neglect of this 
principle of discrimination, leading to a blurring 
of distinctions in the Scriptures, and to a conse- 
quent blunting of the finest sensibilities of the 
soul, may render the study of the Bible harmful 
rather than helpful. Therefore teacher and pupil 
alike should, so far as possible, heed the signifi- 
cant question once asked by the great Teacher of 
whom we all are glad to learn: "Why even of 
yourselves judge ye not what is right?" ^ 

h) The Bible should be used selectively. Not 
all of it is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, 
for correction, for discipline which is in right- 
eousness." ^ Certainly many portions of it arc 
unsuitable for the instruction of young children, 
and others are questionable even for boys and 
girls under twenty years of age. Not only the 
genealogical lists and the ceremonial laws found 
in the Old Testament; but also the stories of 
sexual sins, of barbaric cruelties, of murder, of 
merciless bloodshed in war, are unfit for the spir- 

2 Luke xii. 57. 
« II Tim. iii. 16. 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 317 

itual culture of the young. For this and other 
reasons, an expurgated Bible is needed — such an 
edition, for example, as The Bible for Children.^ 
Of course in the Sunday school only small sec- 
tions of the Scriptures can be studied anyhow, 
for want of time ; but the point here made is that, 
on grounds of fitness or merit, there must be a 
careful selection of passages. 

In making such a selection the guiding prin- 
ciple should be to try to meet the real needs of the 
pupils, which will be different at different stages 
of their development. For the youngest children 
— such as are usually included in the primary 
grades — it is best to use only a few biblical ma- 
terials, consisting mainly of those choice stories 
or sentences which help to give them the great 
and beautiful thought of God's loving care for 
the world of nature and human kind, and which 
tell them a little about the childhood of Jesus 
and about his noble character as a great and good 
Teacher. Other materials — especially pictures, 
and lessons from Nature, and the Christian holi- 
days, and the life of the family — can be used to 
excellent advantage ; and above all the intelligent, 
reverent, and loving attitude and influence of 
the teacher, with songs, prayers, and other exer- 
cises, will make the work of this department 
happy and sweet. Older children — from nine to 
fourteen years — will be interested and helped by 

* Century Company. 



3i8 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the Old Testament stories, and by the New Testa- 
ment narratives of Christ's life and Paul's work ; 
and also by the parables and teachings of Christ, 
if wisely and vitally handled by the teacher. Still 
later, the young people can be led to see and feel 
the essential nobleness of Jesus' character, and 
the loftiness and soundness of his ethical and 
religious teachings; and, with him as a center 
or standard, they can trace the moral develop- 
ment of the Israelitish people through their long, 
hard history. At every point the ruling aim 
should be to adapt the Bible to the actual needs 
of the pupils, and to employ such portions of it 
at different stages, as may be best calculated 
to appeal vitally tO' their growing spiritual 
consciousness. 

c) At the same time, the Bible should be stud- 
ied somewhat comprehensively . By this I mean 
that there should be some evident totality, whole- 
ness, completeness in the passages chosen. Es- 
pecially should this principle hold in the older 
classes, with pupils sixteen years of age and over. 
Separate books of the Bible should be taken up as 
wholes. Students who, in the public schools of 
even the grammar grade, spend a few weeks in 
reading "The Merchant of Venice," until they 
know it almost by heart and very thoroughly ap- 
preciate it, can surely be taught to read and com- 
prehend the Gospel according to Luke, if a 
reasonable length of time is taken and if the 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 319 

teacher is competent. The same may be said 
respecting nearly every other book in the Bible; 
and it is vastly better to study each book sep- 
arately, as a whole, and somewhat thoroughly, 
seeking to understand the point of view, style, 
and leading ideas of its author, than to "run, hop, 
skip, and jump" from book to book and passage 
to passage, until nothing but fragmentary, hazy, 
and bewildering notions of the Bible can remain 
in the pupils' minds. A certain class of boys, 
seven in number and from sixteen to twenty years 
of age, has recently spent about four months — 
that is, about twenty-five minutes each Sunday 
for four months — in reading the book of Job, 
with only a little comment, and with no preach- 
ing or moralizing on the part of the teacher ; and 
it is perfectly plain that they have been much 
more interested and have derived greater profit 
than could have been the case in any desultory 
study of a half-dozen different books in the same 
period. The class had previously read, in a sim- 
ilar way, the bulk of Genesis, Exodus, parts of 
Leviticus and Deuteronomy, a portion of Judges, 
the whole of Ruth; and will go on to read per- 
haps Isaiah and Jeremiah, and several of the 
New Testament books. All lesson papers and 
"helps" are discarded; the Bible is given a chance 
to speak for itself ; and each particular book stud- 
ied is treated as an entity, until its individuality 
is somewhat clearly understood. This is what 



320 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

is meant by the principle of comprehensiveness 
in the use of the Bible in the Sunday school. 
Much more might be said concerning- other as- 
pects and applications of the principle, but limits 
of space forbid. 

d) Finally, and chiefly, the Bible should be 
used vitally. Perhaps the worst evil in Sunday- 
school work — possibly in all other kinds of reli- 
gious work — is a lack of vitality, reality, sincer- 
ity. Songs are sung, Scriptures are read, prayers 
are said that are not half meant; these exercises 
become lifeless formalities; they do not come 
from the souls of the leaders, and do not "reach" 
the souls of the followers. What wonder that, in 
such an atmosphere, the study of the Bible is a 
meaningless procedure, and that the Sunday 
school loses its grip upon the young people? 
Nothing will hold them long or do them any 
good except reality — a vital and sincere spirit in 
the hearts of officers and teachers. Given this, 
there will be earnest work ; a note of genuineness 
will be felt in all the services; and the lessons 
from the Bible will be approached in reverence 
and with positive interest. It is pitiful, it is al- 
most sacreligious, tO' take the great utterances 'of 
Scripture, full of exalted and holy meanings, and 
bandy them about, or repeat them flippantly ; and 
likewise to sing carelessly the loftiest and sweet- 
est hymns, that have been born of anguish or 
transcendent joy, when human souls have been 



THE BIBLE IX THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 321 

transfigured in the light of God's presence. Is 
there anything that can work a more serious in- 
jury to the finest sensibiHties of the spirits of 
children and youth, in the name of religion, than 
mockery like this ? 

Plainly, then, it is imperative that the princi- 
pal condition of effective spiritual work in the 
Sunday school should be recognized as that of 
spiritual vitality on the part of pastor, officers, 
and teachers. The great, strong, holy spirit of 
the Bible must first penetrate their hearts; then 
it will be surely felt, to some extent, throughout 
the school. The noble teachings of the Bible 
must have some real power and find some real 
exemplification in the lives and characters of 
those in the church who are set to lead and teach 
the young, or this very best Book in all the world 
will fail to accomplish its blessed mission in be- 
half of souls naturally susceptible to its beautiful 
influence. In other words, the Bible must be 
translated into life, into experience, by the 
teacher, and must thus reach the pupil through 
the personality of the teacher, in order to do its 
inestimable work in the moral and religious edu- 
cation of children and youth. The teacher is 
to be the living connecting link between the Bible 
and the child. 

Because the spiritual cultivation of the young 
is the most delicate and sacred task committed to 
the Sunday school, or indeed to any other agency, 



322 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

and because the Bible is the greatest and best of 
tools for this purpose, it becomes supremely im- 
portant that the utmost pains should be taken to 
enable the teachers to understand the Bible, to 
understand childhood, and to know how best to 
try to give the former to the latter. All this im- 
plies intelligent preparation, knowledge, skill, 
loving interest and devotion, and a living appre- 
hension and appreciation of spiritual truth as re- 
lated to an unfolding human life. It implies also 
the subordination of the Bible to the teacher and 
the child, rather than the subordination of the 
teacher and the child to the Bible. The Bible is 
merely an instrument, a vehicle, a means to an 
end ; the teacher is a superior agency to reach the 
same end; and that end is the spiritual awaken- 
ing, enlightenment, refinement, invigoration, and 
sanctification of a growing child of God. The 
child is the center of interest; and both teacher 
and Bible are to work together, the one as master 
and the other as implement, to fashion in immor- 
tal beauty the slowly developing character of a 
being made "but little lower than the angels." 

It will be a happy day for the Sunday school, 
and a blessed augury for the vital advance of the 
kingdom of heaven, when the new appreciation 
of the Bible and the new appreciation of child- 
hood are duly supplemented by a new apprecia- 
tion of the joyous privilege and the high respon- 
sibility of the religious teacher, who shall know 



THE BIBLE IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 323 

how to use and not abuse the Bible, how to help 
and not hurt the child; and who shall be ade- 
quately supported by a church that knows how to 
honor and compensate such a holy service. The 
dawn of that golden day is already at hand. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 

Has the Bible a legitimate place in the public 
school? This question, with its implications, is 
receiving increasing attention in our country at 
present. The issues raised by it have been much 
debated in recent years by able partisans, and ju- 
dicial students have been seeking some ample 
common ground on which conflicting claims 
might be justly and wisely reconciled. It cannot 
be said that a large measure of success has at- 
tended these efforts, and yet they have not been 
without some valuable results; at least they have 
made it clear that vital interests are involved 
in the discussion, to which thoughtful people 
cannot afford to be indifferent. 

Of course the problem as it now confronts us 
has a history; it strikes its roots into the soil of 
the past, and we must glance at the developments 
which lie behind us, in order to comprehend the 
existing situation today. 

Not many centuries ago — four or five — re- 
ligion was the dominant interest in the western 
world; and the Church, which was the chief re- 
ligious institution, exercised a controlling in- 
fluence over theology, education, charity, and 
many civil and political affairs: indeed, it had 
long been the aim of the Church to be absolute 
324 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 325 

mistress in both the spiritual and the secular 
realms ; and the great conflict of the later Middle 
Age arose largely from the struggle of the State 
to free itself from the tyranny of the Church. 
This conflict, protracted and titanic, enters, in 
one form or another, into all our modern history, 
making and explaining England and America 
as far as any other factor that has contributed 
to the production of their peculiar institutions. 
At length the State was completely successful as 
against the Church, especially here in this new 
country. Accordingly the one striking feature of 
our civil and ecclesiastical situation is a reversal 
of the mediaeval arrangement, making the State 
not only independent but supreme, so that the 
Church really derives her legal existence from 
the State, just as any other chartered body does; 
although the Church is left free within her own 
distinctive sphere. Thus we have a free Church 
within a free State, and the individual citizen is 
more free in both than anywhere else in the 
world. 

As a part or concomitant of this very signifi- 
cant historic development, the State has gradu- 
ally taken over the control of a number of im- 
portant interests which were formerly within the 
jurisdiction of the Church, wholly or mainly — 
for example, the regulation of marriage and di- 
vorce; the administration of charity, or the care 
of the dependent, defective, and delinquent 



326 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

classes; and the conduct of education. The 
Church still has her share in the promotion of 
human welfare by and through these vital con- 
cerns; but the State's share has steadily in- 
creased, until now it is paramount, and without 
its great work in these respects we can hardly 
see how our social fabric could be maintained, 
and certainly life would be vastly poorer for us 
all. 

Is it a misfortune that the State has thus be- 
come the principal agency for the management of 
these great interests ? It is certainly so regarded, 
particularly in the matter of education, by a 
large and respectable class of people among us, 
notably our Roman Catholic brethren. On the 
other hand, the overwhelming majority of our 
citizens consider the development an immense 
blessing; and I, for one, am deeply convinced 
that the right lies with the majority in this case. 
For think what has really occurred. The prin- 
ciples and spirit of the Christian religion, incul- 
cating and reinforcing all pure social sympathy 
and solicitude, and prompting to every noble sort 
of helpful service, have overflowed the confines 
of the Church and are spreading far and wide 
through society at large ; and society at large, re- 
sponding to this diffused and holy influence, is 
engaging, with the revenues and machinery at 
its command, in gigantic enterprises of human 
betterment for all classes and individuals. Is this 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 327 

to be regretted? Do we want the sunshine of 
Christianity bottled up in the Church? Are we 
not glad to see it radiating in all directions, and 
brightening every place where men live? In- 
deed, is not this precisely the grand object of 
Christianity — the effective diffusion of the 
Christ-like spirit everywhere? Henry Drum- 
mond was right when he said: 

People do not dispute that religion is in the Church. 
What is now wanted is to let them see it in the City. 
One Christian City, one City in any part of the earth, 
whose citizens from the greatest to the humblest lived 
in the spirit of Christ, where religion had overflowed the 
Churches and passed into the streets, inundating every 
house and workshop, and permeating the whole social 
and commercial life — one such Christian City would seal 
the redemption of the world.^ 

Now I hold that our entire modern democratic 
movement, in spite of all its faults, means ex- 
actly this — the overflowing of Christianity from 
the Church into the City and the State, so 
that these great organizations, representing all 
the people, are undertaking to work for the 
welfare of all the people in certain large and 
vital things — sanitation, charity, education, art, 
and even amusement. I call this process, for 
want of a better word to describe it, a vast conse- 
cration of society; and cannot but rejoice that 
it is taking place. ^ 

^ The City Without a Church, p. i6. 

2 A few sentences from Professor Henry S. Nash's excellent 
book, Genesis of the Social Conscience, may show more fully what 
ii here implied: "The soul has entered the State. The State has 



328 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Now in the light of this brief historical re- 
view we see how and why education has come to 
be so largely an affair of the State, particularly 
in our own country; and it is easy to understand 
why formal religious instruction has had no place 
in our public-school system. The divorce be- 
tween Church and State, which is here an accom- 
plished fact, is the result of a long and bitter 
controversy, which was inevitable, and the issue 
of which marked a great advance in the progress 
of our western civilization. But because people 
in our part of the world are very sharply divided 
along lines of religious belief and practice, while 
a few even are hostile to any and every form of 
religion, it has seemed necessary for the State, 
representing and serving the whole population, 
to relegate religious teaching to the Church, leav- 
ing it out of the public schools altogether, in order 
to deal consistently and justly with all classes 
and individuals. 

On this account our public schools have been 
called "godless" by unfriendly critics, and have 

acquired some of the prerogatives of the Church, and is likely to 
acquire more; for the career of the free State has barely begun. 
The creation of a united Germany, the birth of Italian unity, the 
rise of Japan, the vast expansion of lay education through the 
public school and the university, and many another feature of 
contemporary life, tell us with unmistakable emphasis that for an 
indefinite stretch of centuries in the future the conception of the 
State is bound to gain steadily in spiritual significance, and in 
the power to command the spirit and imagination of our picked 
men and women. . . . The Church therefore is facing a new 
fact which has a central position in the spiritual order of things." 
(Pp. 302, 303.) 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 329 

been charged even with being nurseries of a kind 
of infidelity and immorality which will soon or 
late bring our nation to grief. I think there is 
a degree of truth in this criticism, and shall try 
to estimate it later on ; at least I suppose the ma- 
jority of the staunch supporters of the public- 
school system would acknowledge that the omis- 
sion of all religious instruction entails some inci- 
dental losses to our civilization and to the culti- 
vation of the race that are of a serious character. 
But neither critic nor friend has yet shown us a 
more excellent way for a strictly public-school 
system in a thoroughly democratic country. 
Meanwhile, those who are most dissatisfied are 
establishing parochial schools; and of course 
there are many private schools, with or without 
the prominent incorporation of the religious ele- 
ment. Nevertheless, the public-school system 
goes on working and growing, and is the great 
educational agency for our nation as a whole. 

Now the reason why the Bible has been de- 
nied a place in the public schools altogether, or 
has been restricted in its use to the mere reading, 
without comment, of brief passages, lies in the 
fact that the Bible is so closely associated in the 
popular mind with religion as to appear to be a 
very definite religious instrumentality. It has 
been supposed that the Bible could not be studied 
or extensively read without the inculcation of 
theological conceptions and doctrines which 



33^ NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

might be offensive to someone, and so the rule 
of impartial justice should be broken. As indi- 
cating this prevalent attitude in our country, the 
following exhibit of custom and law is given by 
Dr. Charles H. Thurber, of Boston, in his ad- 
dress before the first Convention of the Religious 
Education Association, at Chicago, February, 
1903: 

In New York State, the Bible may be read, if no one 
objects, but must not be read if anyone objects. Massa- 
chusetts requires some portion of the Bible to be read 
daily in the public schools. In Missouri the trustees may 
compel Bible reading. In Illinois a student may be ex- 
pelled for studying during the reading of the Bible. In 
Georgia the Bible must be used in the school. Iowa 
leaves the matter entirely to the judgment of the teacher 
and permits no dictation by either parents or trustees. 
In Arkansas the trustees settle the question. In North 
and South Dakota the Bible may not be excluded from 
any public school, and may be read daily for not to ex- 
ceed ten minutes, at the option of the teacher. In most 
states that permit Bible reading no pupil can be compelled 
against his parents' wishes to take part in the reading or 
to be present during the reading. But in Maine a child 
expelled for refusing to read the Bible cannot recover 
damages. Arkansas forbids the granting of a certificate 
to a teacher who does not believe in a Supreme Being, and 
Rhode Island recommends the rejection of any teacher 
who is in the habit of ridiculing or scoffing at religion. 
Washington prohibits the reading of the Bible in the 
schools; Arizona revokes the certificate of any teacher 
who conducts rehgious exercises in school; and in 1890 
the supreme court of Wisconsin decided that the reading 
of the Bible in the public schools is unconstitutional. In 
1861 the Cincinnati school board was upheld in forbid- 
ding the reading of the Bible. The same action was 
taken in Chicago in 1875, and in New Haven in 1878. 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 331 

New Hampshire requires that "the morning exercises of 
all the schools shall commence with the reading of the 
Scriptures, followed by the Lord's Prayer." Pennsylvania 
says: "The Scriptures come under the head of textbooks, 
and they should not be omitted from the list;" in 1895 
the Bible was read in 87}^ per cent, of the schools of the 
state. Virginia seems to have no law on the subject, but 
the Bible is generally read. South Carolina has no law 
on the subject. The Bible is not read in any of the 
schools of Utah. 

Continues Dr. Thurber: 

In 1896, reports on this subject were gathered from 
946 superintendents, representing all parts of the country. 
Of this number 454 reported the Bible as read in all their 
schools, 295 reported it as read in part of their schools, 
and 197 reported it as read in none of their schools. The 
law ranges, as you have observed, between absolute pro- 
hibition of Bible reading; permitting it when no one ob- 
jects, but not otherwise; leaving it to the option of the 
local authorities, either trustees or teacher; and requir- 
ing it, either leaving the amount and method to the option 
of the teacher or prescribing a very limited amount of 
reading daily. 

Dr. Thurber properly remarks : 

At best this is not much, not much of the Bible, and 
almost nothing in the way of effective teaching. But it 
is well to understand that there are laws governing this 
matter, and that we are not dealing with a question that 
can be settled offhand in a religious gathering or a 
teachers' convention. If there is not more direct religious 
teaching in our schools, at least it is not the fault of 
the teachers. Nor can there be more than there is now, 
unless the laws are changed. Referring to the reasons 
I have suggested for the enactment of these laws, and 
with a knowledge of the lurking danger of sectarian 
strife, we cannot escape the conviction that we have here 
a most difficult and delicate problem.^ 

^Proceedings of the Convention, pp. i3i-i33- 



332 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Having thus got the situation fairly before 
us, by a glance at its history and by a statement 
of its present aspects, we are ready to ask what 
can be done to improve it. 

Evidently no radical departure from existing 
usage can be hastily made; any change that may 
be brought about must come gradually and with- 
out force; strife or bigotry, on either side, will 
do more harm than good. At the same time, it 
is quite apparent that certain modifications of 
current thought are silently growing which are 
tending to alter the judgment heretofore prevail- 
ing, and which are possibly preparing the way for 
a wiser, more generous public policy. 

I. There is a growing appreciation of the 
Bible as a noble literature. It is almost univer- 
sally conceded that the Scriptures comprise some 
of the very finest and grandest writings ever pro- 
duced; and it is increasingly recognized by intel- 
ligent people as a misfortune and an injustice to 
deprive the youth of our land of an acquaintance 
with this ancient, incomparable literature. Not 
only ought Christian children to know about it, 
but all who love culture or for whom culture 
should be an end in education are entitled to un- 
derstand the large place which the Bible has oc- 
cupied in history, and to appreciate the great 
ideas and the exalted spirit that make the Bible 
unique. As the literary excellences of the Bible 
become more familiar, and as the study of litera- 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 333 

ture in general increases, disclosing countless al- 
lusions to biblical passages, the demand for some 
knowledge of the Bible purely as literature is 
likely to grow. It is growing at present, and I 
am confident that it will continue to do so. 

2. There is likewise an increasing apprecia- 
tion of the Bible as a means of moral culture. 
It is the most intensely moral literature in the 
world. It throbs with moral earnestness, it 
pleads for righteousness with passionate ardor, 
and its teaching about duty is clear, positive, 
comprehensive, and applies with equal effective- 
ness to the individual and to society as a whole. 
Because of this remarkable quality possessed by 
the Bible, ethical teachers like Dr. Felix Adler 
and Mr. Walter L. Sheldon turn to the stories, 
prophecies, psalms, and parables of the Scriptures 
as the very best writings for awakening moral 
sentiments in the young, or for strengthening 
moral conviction and purpose, or for affording 
moral guidance in practical conduct.^ The simple 
fact is that no literature surpasses, no extensive 
literature equals, the Bible in this respect. There- 
fore it is too important a means of ethical culture 
to be ignored. Thoughtful people are more and 
more taking this view. 

3. There is a growing recognition of the in- 
adequacy of a merely intellectual education, or 

* See Dr. Adler's Moral Education; also Mr. Sheldon's An 
Ethical Sunday School. 



334 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

even an intellectual and an aesthetic education. 
Everywhere, in recent years, educators have been 
calling loudly for character as the essential pro- 
duct which our schools, especially our public 
schools, should turn out. The acquisition of in- 
formation or the sharpening of wits may be but 
an equipment for shrewder crime, unless coun- 
tervailed by moral invigoration and discipline. 
The chief stress of modern life is a moral stress, 
the chief danger that threatens the modern State 
is moral danger, and the chief need in safeguard- 
ing and perpetuating our precious heritage of free 
institutions is character ^ formed upon firm prin- 
ciple, and imbued with the spirit and power of 
righteousness. Otherwise we shall make ship- 
wreck of our American experiment, while wreck- 
ing the lives of countless thousands of our indi- 
vidual men and women. This, too, is a deepen- 
ing conviction among enlightened people. 

4. Once more, there is a growing recognition 
of the great advantage and the serious responsi- 
bility of the public school for effecting the moral 
education of the young. It reaches directly and 
commandingly the vast majority of the children 
of our country ; it has them in charge from three 
to five hours a day, and five days a week, for 
from thirty to forty weeks a year, for eight or 
ten years. Thus its opportunity is the largest 
and best that is possessed by any organized insti- 
tutioai among us. Not even the Church can do 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 335 

SO much with and for the children, because of 
its want of time. The schools have the time, 
the children, the material equipment, the support 
and compulsion of law, the deep interest of the 
people in general, and the service of trained men 
and women as teachers. Surely their opportunity 
is large, and their responsibility for results must 
be held to be correspondingly large. If, to no 
slight extent, these results may be rightly ex- 
pected to be moral, the schools must certainly ful- 
fil somehow an exceedingly important moral 
function. 

Here, then, are certain elements of possibly a 
new judgment respecting the question before us : 
on the one hand, we have a growing appreciation 
of the Bible as a noble literature, and also as a 
means of moral culture; and, on the other hand, 
we have an increasing demand for moral results 
in education, along with an increasing recogni- 
tion of the opportunity and responsibility of the 
public school for furnishing it. 

If, now, we could take two or three additional 
steps, we might perhaps reach a satisfactory solu- 
tion of our problem. 

a) If we could discard the dogmatic use of 
the Bible, and treat it simply as a great litera- 
ture imbued with the spirit of morality and re- 
ligion, and could be content to read it as litera- 
ture, with a view merely to letting this strong, 
characteristic quality make its own natural im- 



336 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

pression upon the mind and heart, we might 
quicken the moral and religious spirit in the souls 
of the young without attempting tO' impart, 
much less impose, any definite theological or 
ecclesiastical notions. 

b) If, moreover, we could find and employ 
special teachers to go into the public schools to 
teach the Bible in this way, as we now employ 
special instructors in music and drawing — teach- 
ers abundantly qualified for a delicate and diffi- 
cult task — we should approach still nearer the 
goal so earnestly desired by many good people. 

c) If, once more, we could simplify or lighten 
the present overloaded school curriculum, giving 
the pupils a little more time to feel, to absorb, 
and to think, we should discover that the Bible, 
when used as has been just now proposed, would, 
like a noble production in poetry, painting, sculp- 
ture, or music, convey its own sublime message 
into many a young mind and heart; whereas, 
without time to feel — that is, without opportunity 
to ponder and wonder and respond — even the 
reading of the Bible would be a superficial and 
worthless exercise. 

Theoretically all this would seem feasible 
enough, and justifiable. No thoughtful person 
will dispute the claim that the Bible is a great 
literature, or that its ideas and ideals, its historic 
associations and its potent spirit have had a sub- 
stantial influence in the development of our mod- 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 337 

ern civilization. Surely, then, it were illogical to 
refuse a recognition of the Bible as such a litera- 
ture and such a powerful factor, and unjust to the 
young to withhold from them a knowledge of 
these things. The history of Israel is as deserv- 
ing of study as the history of Persia or that of 
Italy; and there ought not to be any more diffi- 
culty in reading the writings of Isaiah or Jere- 
miah, for example, in connection with Israel's 
history than in reading the sermons of Savo- 
narola, or interpreting the art of Michael Angelo, 
in connection with Italian history. Indeed, if we 
may properly decorate our public schoolrooms 
with distinctively Christian pictures, why ex- 
clude all knowledge of the Christian Scriptures 
which helped to produce such pictures and can 
alone explain them? If we relate the story of 
the Pilgrims, in teaching the history of the 
United States, how can we fail to imply and con- 
vey some conception of the place and influence 
of the Bible in the lives of those universally 
honored pioneers ? Or if we describe the Spanish 
explorations and settlements in the New World, 
why ignore or minimize the religious considera- 
tions which often had a large place in their plans ? 
The fact is, we cannot dodge the subject of re- 
ligion, if we try, in the study of history, litera- 
ture, art, music, or any other important phase 
of modern civilization; and we ought not to try. 
But it is possible to treat religion in a large, fair, 



338 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

sympathetic way; to distinguish between the re- 
ligious instinct or sentiment or spirit, on the one 
hand, and its expressions in worship, theology 
and ecclesiasticism, on the other hand; and to 
seek to quicken and strengthen this religious 
spiritj which underlies all forms of worship, all 
creeds, and all churches, without indulging any 
prejudices or preferences respecting dogmatic 
and sectarian interests. 

If we can bring ourselves into this generous 
and reverent attitude, learning to have more re- 
gard for the soul of religion than for its body, 
we shall soon raise up, in our churches, normal 
schools, and universities, a supply of enlightened, 
magnanimous teachers who shall be competent 
to deal with the vital interests of moral and reli- 
gious education as wisely, delicately, and justly 
as others now deal with history, literature, music, 
and art; and we shall find that there is ample 
room in the public school for such teachers, lov- 
ing the spiritual aspects of civilization and sympa- 
thizing with all the noble aspirations of the race, 
to make a vital, inspiring, and delightful use of 
the Bible purely as a great spiritual literature in- 
culcating the spirit of morality and religion, with- 
out aiming to impart a bit of theological bias or 
any taint of sectarianism. Then we shall dis- 
cover that the influence of the Bible will be to 
set righteousness into the midst of life's great in- 
terests, and to buttress it by reverence on the one 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 339 

side and by brotherly love on the other side. 
Thus we shall acquaint the young with what is 
most essential in this precious literature, and shall 
powerfully reinforce the central principle of all 
good conduct, righteousness^ to which every con- 
science testifies, by the hallowing spirit of rever- 
ence and by the unselfish spirit of brotherly love. 

The obstacles to the course here suggested are 
mainly inherent in the fact that the people gen- 
erally are not yet ready to regard and treat the 
Bible in the large and free way just indicated; 
nor are they prepared to be content to put the 
emphasis upon the soul of religion, and to con- 
sider its manifold bodily forms as of secondary 
importance. But they are progressing rapidly 
toward this more liberal and more spiritual posi- 
tion. With the advances made during the last 
generation in biblical knowledge and in educa- 
tional theory, we may reasonably expect another 
generation to bring us to the desired goal — to the 
point where we may appropriate the essential and 
potent spirit of the Bible to the paramount ends 
of true culture and of ethical-religious impres- 
sion, without injustice to any individual or class. 

The process, however, will be necessarily grad- 
ual and prolonged. We must all be patient, mag- 
nanimous, and kind while it is going on. We 
cannot force results or methods. We must give 
every interest a fair hearing; and we must wait. 
The public mind will have to "catch up" with 



340 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

the advanced positions of biblical scholars and 
educational leaders ere the literary, historical, 
and spiritual values of the Bible can be handled 
in the public schools with due discrimination and 
appreciation to render the work acceptable to the 
people at large or highly profitable to the pupils. 
We must remember that the existing situation, in- 
volving the divorce between Church and State, 
along with the entire exclusion of religious in- 
struction and the partial exclusion of even the 
reading of the Bible from the public schools, re- 
sulted from certain powerful ideas and influences 
long operative in the past which we have not yet 
wholly outgrown; and we are now in the midst 
of the process of transforming some of these, and 
must patiently await the great improvement 
which the change will ultimately yield. 

A right ideal of the place of Scripture in the public 
school consistently followed might have prevented a woe- 
ful setback to real enlightenment on subjects pertaining 
to morality and religion. But we had first to learn what 
this ideal is, and how biblical science should be taught. 
Perhaps the reaction may come when the nation of the 
Bible as a compendium of standard religious doctrines, a 
textbook of theology, has yielded to a more reasonable 
faith. Perhaps the beginning may be when the public 
sees the right ideal maintained, and the right system of 
biblical science pursued, in our Christian colleges and 
universities."' 

The foregoing examination of the question 
brings us back to the present status of affairs. 

^ Professor B. W. Bacon, in Proceedings of the Religious Ed- 
ucation Association, 1904, p. 131. 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 341 

We see that this cannot be suddenly or exten- 
sively altered. Discussion and tentative experi- 
ments may bring some modifications of thought 
and policy, but no radical or sweeping changes 
can be expected ; neither would they be desirable. 
Meanwhile, however, we may well take to heart 
two or three considerations. 

I. It is cause for gratification that so much 
is being done in our colleges and universities 
along the very lines just indicated in Professor 
Bacon's words. Within the last two decades 
many of these institutions have estajDiished pro- 
fessorships and courses in biblical literature and 
history, which have become quite as popular as 
others. The fruits of this fundamental work are 
already accruing in two ways : sending out num- 
bers of soundly educated young men and women 
in matters pertaining to a correct general concep- 
tion of the Bible; and also spreading through 
many communities a new and more enlightened 
interest in the proper study of the Scriptures. 
Churches are benefiting by all this; and grad- 
ually a generation will grow up that will easily 
and fully share the new appreciation of the Bible, 
whence we may look for a wider and more vital 
use, as well as a more keen enjoyment, of the 
manifold riches of this ancient, age-lasting liter- 
ature. Here, again, the institutions of the higher 
education are proving themselves the worthy 
guides and sure redeemers of society. 



342 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

The nature and grounds of such educational 

work are admirably stated by Professor Henry T. 

Fowler, as follows : 

This movement is actuated, it would seem, by the 
same motives that support the study of other literatures 
and histories, namely, an appreciation of intellectual, 
aesthetic, and practical value. Only thus can the results 
of the present development become widespread and per- 
manent. At best, the rapidity of the spread must be 
limited by the whole force of educational tendency and 
tradition that has emphasized other literatures rather 
than this one. It must be limited, too, by present popular 
feeling as to the true function of the Bible, by present 
interest of students in the modern rather than the ancient, 
by present lack of suitable teachers and endowments. A 
growing recognition, however, on the part of educators 
of the true claims of the Bible as a part of a liberal edu- 
cation will steadily overcome these difficulties." 

2. While awaiting the enrichment of the pop- 
ular mind, thus to be ultimately derived from thie 
work of the colleges and universities, we must re- 
member that we have other agencies than the 
public schools for educating the young in mor- 
ality and religion. Education is, indeed, "a uni- 
tary process," as President Nicholas Murray But- 
ler has said ; but it does not therefore follow that 
all phases of education must be furnished in one 
place or under one system. As a matter of fact, 
it is not so, and it cannot be so. Everything edu- 
cates, or miseducates — the home, the school, the 
church, the street, the newspaper, life. Nature. 
We do not expect the public school to instruct our 

''Address, Religious Education Association, 1904; see Pro- 
ceedings, p. 136. 



THE BIBLE IN^THE PUBLICiSCHOOL 343 

children in dancing, in instrumental music, in eti- 
quette, in painting and sculpture, although all 
these are regarded as essential by thousands of 
people. No more should we require the distinc- 
tively ethical and religious aspects of education 
to be supplied by the public schools, much beyond 
the rudimentary ideas, principles and habits ne- 
cessary to all proper conduct, which are incident- 
ally yet inevitably inculcated through the ordi- 
nary relationships of teachers and pupils. We 
send our children to the dancing master for one 
kind of education, to the music teacher for an- 
other kind, and to the art school for still another. 
This brings us plainly to see that we are to 
look chiefly to the home and the church for the 
education of the young in morality and religion. 
And precisely here lies one of the points most 
needing to be strengthened in the life of today. 
The due co-operation of the home and the church 
with the school is an imperative requirement, 
but it is far from being adequately met. The 
home has been somewhat weakened, in many in- 
stances, by the increasing influence of wealth, the 
growth of the boarding-house habit, and, alas! 
the too facile disruption of the marriage bond; 
and it is to be feared that it has been further 
weakened, all unwittingly, by being relieved of 
the sense of parental riesponsibility for the edu- 
cation of the children through the taking-over of 
this task by the public school and the Sunday 



344 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

school. The time has come when we need to 
understand as thoroughly as possible that the 
school and the church cannot fulfil the function 
of the home, but can merely supplement it; and 
when we must do everything in our power to 
create and maintain a living sympathy, an ear- 
nest and intelligent co-operation, between the 
home and the school, between the home and the 
church. And it must be said that the church is 
not at present rising to its opportunity in this 
respect. By inviting the family to send its chil- 
dren to the Sunday school for education in morals 
and religion, it has done much, albeit with the 
best of intentions, to break down the sense of 
parental responsibility for such eduation; but it 
has not done enough to counteract this evil and to 
secure a greater good by throwing back upon the 
home a spiritual interpretation of such responsi- 
bility, and by throwing back into the home suffici- 
ent helpful influences to enable the parents to do 
their duty. A reform or improvement in the 
church's ministration in this particular is urgent- 
ly called for; it cannot commence tooi soon; and 
when started, the church will find a new and most 
fertile field for the abundant production of the 
fruits of the spirit. If the home and the church 
can be brought into vital connection and adequate 
co-operation, as would appear to be one of the 
most natural openings or relationships for the 
ministry of Christian education, there will be 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 345 

little cause for complaint on account of the 
neglect of moral and religious interests in the 
work of the public schools. Let the responsibility 
rest where it really belongs. 

3. Finally, we must not fail to appreciate the 
spiritual influence of the public schools under 
existing conditions. They are not "godless," nor 
are they immoral, either in the positive sense of 
breeding bad morals or in the negative sense of 
failing to inculcate good morals. To allege that 
they are so, implying that such is generally the 
case, is a gross and malignant slander ; and when 
one sees this charge made most frequently in 
precisely those quarters where the effort is most 
sedulous to get sectarian parochial schools ac- 
cepted as an equivalent substitute for the public 
schools, so that they may receive a portion of the 
public funds, or so that their supporters may not 
be taxed for the maintenance of the public-school 
system, one cannot feel that the allegation 
proceeds from entirely disingenuous motives. 

Wholesale judgments are always liable to con- 
tain a considerable element of error ; but scarcely 
any general judgment is safer than that the pub- 
lic schools of America, as a rule and on the whole, 
tend very strongly to produce a noble type of 
life and character. Their teachers, as a class, 
are high-grade men and women, whose personal 
influence is refining and elevating; they are usu- 
ally earnest, honest, unselfish, public-spirited. 



346 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

and they diligently seek to present true ideals to 
their pupils, and to incite them to worthy en- 
deavor. If the schools do not directly and pur- 
posely inculcate reverence in the religious sense, 
they do at least, by their ordinary and necessary 
work, instil reverence for excellence; and this 
lies at the foundation of all true reverence for 
things divine and eternal. More than a founda- 
tion for the building of a good character, more 
than the humble beginning of a preparation for 
life-long growth in knowledge, usefulness, and 
happiness, the public schools cannot be reasonably 
required to furnish. By furnishing this, even to 
a moderate extent, in the enlightenment and 
training they afford, in the refining and elevating 
influence they exert, and in the noble ideals they 
present, they are fitting the children to enter upon 
the larger life which opens continuously before 
them — the reading of good books, including the 
Bible; the study of history, comprising its moral 
and religious phases as well as its economic, 
social, and political; the appreciation of art; the 
pursuit of scientific knowledge; and the cultiva- 
tion of the virtues and graces of Christian man- 
hood and womanhood. Rendering this funda- 
mental service, their work is of priceless worth. 
If thereupon the Bible and all the great spiritual 
interests which it represents do not make, 
through other avenues, an effective appeal to the 
minds and hearts of our American youth, the 



THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 347 

fault cannot be justly laid at the door of the 
public school.''' 

' Two or three references may be given for recent and valu- 
able discussion of the interests of moral and religious education, 
(i) Education in Religion and Morals, by Professor George A. Coe 
(Revell, publisher). (2) Moral Education^ by Edward Howard 
Griggs (N. Y. : B. W. Huebsch, 1904), contains extensive bib- 
liography. (3) Vol. Ill of the Proceedings of the Religious Edu- 
cation Association (1905), especially pp. 219-71 relating to the pub- 
lic schools. 



CHAPTER XV 
THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 

In treating of the Bible in the home we are 
dealing with another phase of the great problem 
of moral and religious education. We have seen 
that, on account of its surpassing spiritual merits, 
the Bible is to be used in the Sunday school as the 
chief instrument of spiritual culture, especially 
when wielded by teachers who have been deeply 
quickened by its influence and have thoroughly 
learned some of its holy lessons. We have seen 
likewise that, on account of its literary excellence, 
and its historic interest, as well as its lofty spir- 
itual character, it is entitled to a place in the pub- 
lic school, side by side with the literature, his- 
tory, and art of Greece and Rome ; although this 
kind of study should be sharply distinguished 
from its employment for purposes of dogmatic in- 
struction, which is not compatible with the genius 
of our American public-school system. And now 
in seeking to determine why and how the Bible 
should be used in the home, we are touching upon 
the educational function of the third of these 
principal formative institutions in our modern 
civilization. 

When we consider the home intelligently we 
quickly discover that it is of fundamental im- 
portance. The family is the primary social in- 
348 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 349 

stitution. It is based upon natural instincts of 
the deepest and strongest character, whose roots 
are in the body, but whose flowers and fruits 
are in the soul. Marriage and parentage blend 
physical and spiritual interests and influences 
more vitally and completely than any other hu- 
man relationship. If, therefore, any institution 
may be properly called sacred, with all the fulness 
of meaning that such an adjective ought to imply, 
it is the family, which is the cornerstone of the 
school, the church, the state, the nation. 

Sociologists everywhere are emphasizing the 
importance of the family; indeed, it is largely to 
their studies that we are indebted for a more en- 
lightened appreciation of this primary social 
group. They have shown us that society is not 
merely a formless mass of individuals, comming- 
ling promiscuously, but rather a vast tissue of 
families, each constituting a vital knot or nerve- 
center in the social organism. And those persons 
who have experience in the practical conduct of 
charitable, humane, or reformatory work are 
daily corroborating this testimony. One-half of 
the broken lives of the world are traceable to 
bad homes ; and we can do little for the improve- 
ment of society without engaging somehow the 
co-operation of the home. The best thing we can 
do for children is to make good homes for them, 
or to approximate this as nearly as possible. A 
good home is the best moral insurance that any- 



350 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

body can have. A man without a home is as 
badly off as "the man without a country.'* What- 
ever menaces the homes of a nation endangers 
every true interest in our civilization. What- 
ever promotes the security and happiness of the 
people's homes ministers directly to national 
welfare and human progress. 

The educational function of the home is appar- 
ent as soon as we recognize the truth that educa- 
tion itself is a vital process, whose fruitage is the 
formation of character. Now when you reflect 
that the child is born into the home — at least, 
thank Heaven! the great majority of children 
are thus born — and that the characteristic ten- 
dencies which are to prevail throughout the re- 
mainder of life are chiefly determined within the 
first three or four years of that child's existence, 
while the influences of the next ten or twelve 
years are very potent and lasting, you can see at 
once that the home really contributes more than 
any other agency to the education of the child for 
good or evil. It is here in the social life of the 
family, with its daily experience of toil and re- 
sponsibility, care and devotion, sympathy and 
ministry, sorrow and joy, love, hope, fear, 
wrong-doing, remorse, forgiveness — here in this 
little world of the home, half of earth and half of 
heaven, that a human soul is started on its eternal 
career; and while the baneful influence of a bad 
home may be largely overcome, and the helpful 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 351 

influence of a good home greatly impaired, by 
what the after years shall bring, yet the impres- 
sions produced and the impulses given in this 
earliest of all schools are not likely ever to be 
wholly outgrown. After all, it is the home, more 
than school or church or state, that molds 
character in our boys and girls, our men and 
women. 

Such being a hint of the social significance and 
the educational value of the home, we are ready 
to inquire a little more closely into the relations 
that ought to subsist between the Bible and the 
home. 

Immediately I offer the general remark that 
one of the first conditions of a good home is a 
good spirit in the hearts of its inmates; and be- 
cause the Bible is a great literature that breathes 
such a spirit with wonderful power, it would 
seem that it ought to have a large place of real 
influence, somehow, in every household whose 
members want their family life to be honorable, 
pure, and happy. 

There have been thousands of such households 
that have thus welcomed the Bible and received 
its blessing. After its translation into the Eng- 
lish language it entered the homes of English- 
speaking people, along with Protestant concep- 
tions of religion, and was read with all the dili- 
gence, ardor, and devoutness which, under the 
conditions, that mighty spiritual awakening pro- 



352 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

duced. Each home where earnest believers were 
found became a kind of sanctuary, domestic wor- 
ship was estabhshed, and into the life of no peo- 
ple of modern times have the ideas and spirit of 
the Bible penetrated so deeply as into that of the 
English Puritans. Some of these came to Amer- 
ica, bringing the Bible, with their grim accept- 
ance of it and their inflexible purpose to found a 
state upon it; and, naturally, its dominant in- 
fluence was felt everywhere. The custom of 
fireside worship, with morning and evening 
prayer and the reading of Scripture, was fre- 
quent if not general, and has descended even to 
very recent times. Doubtless you and I could tell 
of households in which these devotional exercises 
were a regular feature, or where they were at 
least occasional ; and mayhap there are still a few 
such family sanctuaries, that have not yielded to 
the rush and superficiality of these more stren- 
uous days, but maintain the hallowed usage of 
former generations. 

As a rule, however, it is probably true, this 
ancient custom of domestic worship is rapidly dis- 
appearing in America. Indeed, it is not easy to 
see how it can survive for the majority of our 
people, until we learn how to live more simply, 
leisurely, and wisely. The industrial changes 
which have come over American society, the 
growth of cities and city habits, the influx of peo- 
ple from countries with alien ideals of religious 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 353 

life, the rise of a vast educational system, the 
multitudinous products of the printing press, the 
increase of social organizations of all sorts, and 
the amplification of the work of the churches — 
these and other influences are so invading and 
assailing our homes as to leave scant opportunity 
for fireside prayer and the reading of the Bible, 
and in fact are destroying thousands of homes 
altogether, their inmates flying to the club, hotels 
or boarding-house. Consequently worship has 
been transferred mainly to the church service, 
however frequently or infrequently attended; the 
study of the Bible has been handed over to the 
Sunday school, which is not equal to the task im- 
posed upon it; and the Sacred Volume no longer 
exerts its potent influence directly in American 
households generally, as it did in the days of our 
forefathers. I do not forget the very large num- 
ber of homes into which the Sunday-school chil- 
dren have carried the Bible, for the first time per- 
haps, nor those in which the "Home Depart- 
ment" of the Sunday school has promoted a study 
of the Bible every week by parents or other 
adults. Nevertheless, what I have said remains 
substantially true : the Bible has lost the place of 
honor and power which it once had in the ma- 
jority of American households; at least this is 
my own apprehension of the existing situation. 
Now what can be done to improve matters? 
Something, surely ; much, I believe. 



354 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

I. We must frankly recognize the change 
which has taken place, and acknowledge that in 
a measure it is a wholesome change. By this I 
mean that the Puritan use of the Bible, while sal- 
utary at the time, was too serious, intense, over- 
strained to last. The somber character of the 
Englishman took naturally to the solemn, sad, 
stern spirit of the old Hebrew prophets; and 
when the Bible was given to Englishmen in their 
native tongue, it so happened that they needed 
just such a resolute, rectifying, sanctifying in- 
fluence. This was reinforced by the Calvinistic 
theology, and also by the severe conflicts and 
struggles of the period, not less for those who 
sought these shores than for those who remained 
to fight in Cromwell's army. But the austere 
mood could not be permanent, the rigor of Cal- 
vin's teaching had to relax, and the era of strife 
was bound to give way to a season of peace and 
prosperity. The age of the Puritans is gone; 
new conditions have arisen; new peoples are 
dwelling here ; thought has broadened and molli- 
fied; new ideals of social life and religious duty 
are dawning; and the spirit which pressed the 
truths of the Bible into the very blood and mar- 
row of our ancestors is no longer in the world or 
the Church to do the same for us. A larger, 
freer, fairer, happier life has come to the teeming 
multitudes of this land ; and while the stupendous 
change has brought its incidental losses and en- 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 355 

tails its great risks, yet on the whole it has been 
beneficial, not less for religion than for other 
abiding interests. Our first duty is to understand 
this fact. 

2. Meanwhile the Bible has become vastly 
more interesting than it was two or three cen- 
turies ago. Scholars have brought a great light 
to shed upon its pages; the history with which 
it is connected and of which it forms a part has 
been made luminous, so that it reads like a bril- 
liant fairy tale; and its spiritual treasures are 
now seen to be so rich and varied as to have a 
blessing for every man, every race, every nation 
that may be willing to receive them. We know 
more abotU the Bible than our ancestors did, even 
if we do not know so much of the Bible ; and we 
need only to bring the two kinds of knowledge 
together, in order to enjoy the blessing of inspi- 
ration along with the blessing of information. 
Let us not forget to be duly thankful for the enor- 
mous enrichment of our intellectual life which 
modern biblical scholarship has rendered possi- 
ble to each one of us, and which we have to use 
as an implement for the cultivation of a distinc- 
tively spiritual interest in the Bible on the part of 
the ignorant or the indifferent. 

3. We have the Bible today in a much more 
convenient, attractive, and serviceable form than 
previous generations have possessed. This is 
really a great gain. The fine print of the small 



356 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Bibles of an earlier day gave them a forbidding 
appearance, and one wonders how it was possible 
to read them by candle light ; surely, the fact that 
they were thus read attests the deep interest 
which Christian people had in the message of the 
Scriptures. But now, while small editions of the 
Bible, with necessarily fine print, still abound, 
there are so many other editions, in large, clear 
type, having the subject-matter suitably para- 
graphed, with page headings, references, and 
footnotes, that one need not experience any diffi- 
culty or incur a large expense in procuring a copy 
of the Sacred Volume which can be read with 
ease and pleasure. Some of the work of illus- 
trating, commenting, and explaining is overdone, 
perhaps, so that the Scripture is not sufficiently 
allowed to speak for itself ; but such is not always 
the case. For general uses, the American Re- 
vision is possibly the best; but Professor Moul- 
ton's "Modern Reader's Bible" is in every way 
admirable; while the Oxford editions and the 
Temple Bible, employing the Authorized Ver- 
sion, as well as the English Revision, are pre- 
sented in convenient and attractive style. No ex- 
cuse on the score of availability remains, there- 
fore, for the neglect of Bible reading. Every 
household that really wants a copy of the Holy 
Scriptures can easily obtain it in these favored 
times, and can likewise obtain an abundant 
supply of helpful supplementary material. 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 357 

4. With such advantages, the urgent need is 
to secure the interest and co-operation of parents. 
Here arises a great practical difficulty, at least 
in many cases, and in some instances the ob- 
stacles may be insurmountable. Thousands of 
parents are too busy with the pitiless struggle for 
subsistence to find either time or strength, to say 
nothing of inclination, for Bible reading with 
their children; other thousands are incompetent, 
intellectually or morally, to teach their children 
concerning the Bible or to lead them in reading 
and studying it; while, of course, others still are 
hostile to all religious matters. But, for the pres- 
ent, let us disregard these various classes, along 
with others that might be mentioned. Yet there 
will remain great numbers of parents who could 
find time and strength for such reading and 
study, and who would be competent to lead their 
children in the good work. The immediate prob- 
lem is, How to enlist these. Some of them are 
church people; others, while non-attendants, are 
not unfriendly to the churches; and still others, 
who may never have thought about Christianity 
at all, could be interested if wisely and kindly 
approached. How shall they he reached? 

Evidently here is a field for the Christian 
churches to cultivate; and one of the very first 
things to do is to seek, in all delicacy and kind- 
liness, to impress upon parents a sense of their 
responsibility for the spiritual welfare of their 



35^ NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

children not less than for the physical. Too 
often parents imagine that they do their whole 
duty in this respect by handing their children 
O'ver to the Sunday school, supposing rather 
vaguely that the school will lead them into the 
church and make good Christians out of them. 
While such does, indeed, turn out, very fre- 
quently, to be the fortunate result, the plan quite 
as frequently miscarries. The work of the Sunday 
school, ordinarily, is woefully inadequate; and 
in any case it cannot absolve parents from their 
responsibility for the highest welfare of their 
offspring. Pastors and teachers need to learn, 
and are beginning to learn, that the better half 
of their work for the young consists in deepening 
and strengthening the spiritual life of the home. 
This is to be done in two ways: first, by in- 
creasing, rather than relieving, the sense of pa- 
rental responsibility; and, second, by carrying 
into the home the necessary practical help — sym- 
pathy, counsel, guidance, and copious material. 
Pastors and teachers must go to parents and say, 
substantially: "We are sincerely interested in 
the moral and religious education of your chil- 
dren; but we do not think it is right for us to 
seek to take this vital, sacred, delicate work out 
of your hands : for you are primarily responsible 
for their spiritual welfare, and no other agency 
can properly supplant the family relationship. 
But we want to help you in any and every pes- 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 359 

sible way. What can we do for you? Let us 
send you an abundance of good materials, let us 
counsel with you, and let us together — family 
and church — do all we can to bring your chil- 
dren up to an enlightened, resolute, noble spirit- 
ual life and character!" Thus, in addition to 
bringing the children to the Sunday school and 
the church, there must be carried from this reli- 
gious center a strong, steady influence to enrich 
the spiritual life of the family; and no ministry 
which the churches can perform in these days 
can be more salutary or promising. 

Beginning on this basis, in this way, the Bible 
will come immediately into use as the one best 
instrument to serve the great end thus contem- 
plated. Pastors, teachers, parents, and children 
will all turn at once to the moral and religious 
treasures contained in this spiritual storehouse. 
Then will come straightway the need of some 
plain, simple guide to the right use of the Bible 
— something, very primary perhaps, to help the 
parents understand what the Bible really is, why 
it should be read and studied, how interesting it 
may become, and just how to begin with it. For 
there can be no doubt that many parents today 
do not really know what to do with the Bible; 
they themselves are not familiar with its con- 
tents; and the rumors of the new views regard- 
ing it merely perplex them. Therefore they need 
primary instruction and guidance. It is not best 



360 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

to read the Bible through by course, and it cer- 
tainly is not profitable to try to read it all, es- 
pecially to the young: how, then, shall one 
proceed ? 

Fortunately, at this point, we now have some 
helpful selections from the abundant and varied 
materials in the Scriptures. Two works already 
mentioned are very valuable, viz. : The Bible for 
Children, published by the Century Company, 
New York; and Walter L. Sheldon's The Old 
Testament Bible Stories, issued by W. M. Welch 
and Company, Chicago, the subject-matter in the 
latter work being somewhat paraphrased. Let 
parents take such volumes as these and read to 
their children, even at six or eight years of age, 
and then read with them; and later, but still at 
an early period, read directly from the Bible 
itself — reading, parents and children together, 
very freely and very copiously, and simply talk- 
ing matters over without much preaching or 
didacticism. Let the Scriptures be read, and let 
them make their own impression. Such is a bare 
hint of a natural, wise method of procedure ; and 
the counsel thus given has grown out of experi- 
ence in just this method. 

In a previous chapter of this work Professor 
Walter F. Adeney's How to Read the Bible has 
been warmly commended; and justly so. But 
some day we shall have a "Primary Guide to the 
Bible," for parents and teachers, which shall be 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 3^1 

even more simple, which shall give specific direc- 
tions, indicate courses of readings from the Scrip- 
tures, and bring the great spiritual influence of 
the Bible into more natural and vital contact with 
the life of today than the older conceptions and 
methods permitted.^ Meanwhile, let pastors help 
their people to new and fresh ways of Bible read- 
ing, especially in the family circle; and in time 
there will result a spiritually enriched home life 
that will prove a baptism of the nation. 

5. One further counsel remains to crown all 
that has been said. It is that the most vital and 
valuable influence in connection with the Bible in 
the home is the sincere desire and effort to trans- 
late its great message into life. The living ex- 
emplification of the best principles and spirit ex- 
pressed in the Bible, the humble, honest attempt 
to shape one's own conduct and character by 
them, is the only sure way of realizing the bless- 
ings which the Scriptures can confer, and is the 
most potent means of commending them to 

^ Since the foregoing was written, there has come to hand An 
Introduction to the Bible for Teachers of Children, by Georgia 
Louise Chamberlin (University of Chicago Press). The little 
volume, of 206 pages, admirably fulfils the requirements indi- 
cated above. It is the outgrowth of the new learning regarding the 
Bible, and of practical experience in teaching young children. It 
gives parents and teachers very clearly the right point of view to 
start with; and then it furnishes a simple, fruitful scheme of 
lessons, with specific directions and suggestions, which can scarcely 
fail to prove as delightful as they must be instructive to old and 
young alike. Taking this Introduction in connection with Professor 
Adeney's work, any thoughtful parent or teacher may be sure of 
finding abundant profit in the new kind of study of the Bible 
which has been earnestly recommended in these pages. 



362 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Others. They themselves tend directly to awaken 
such a desire, to produce such an effort; yet it is 
possible to read them very diligently, and fla- 
grantly to disregard their holy teachings. If this 
be done by parents, the children will hardly be 
drawn to love the Bible. But if, on the contrary, 
parents do evidently and sincerely try to live the 
noble, righteous, merciful life which the great 
spirit of the Bible promotes, the young people 
who grow up in daily contact with such an ex- 
ample cannot fail to perceive the sources of this 
high influence. The Bible will grow dear to them 
as the fountain of life-giving waters, whose re- 
freshing, cleansing, sustaining power they have 
seen demonstrated in the lives of their parents, 
amid the varied experiences of joy and sorrow, 
struggle and triumph, which come more or less to 
every household. Nothing can take the place 
of the living exemplification of the principles and 
spirit of true morality and religion — no precepts, 
no rites and ceremonies, no dogmas and institu- 
tions. The power of the Bible to beget an hon- 
est effort toward such an exemplification is its 
greatest power; and the atmosphere which is 
thus created in a home is the most beautiful, 
blessed, and far-reaching influence that may 
serve to shape the development of childhood in a 
spiritual direction. 

The next forward step in moral and religious 



THE BIBLE IN THE HOME 363 

education should be — let us trust that it will be 
— to try to help the home to fulfil its true func- 
tion in this respect. Perhaps the largest unculti- 
vated field lying before the churches of America 
is the field of spiritual home-making. Every 
church might well maintain a ministry for this 
particular service, might well employ, at a good 
salary, an educated woman, with the heart of a 
consecrated pastor and the training of a high- 
grade teacher, to go into each and every home on 
this very errand, offering intelligent aid to the 
parents in the matter of Bible reading or study, 
carrying helpful books, giving sympathetic coun- 
sel, yet respecting (as a true pastor would do) 
all the delicate privacies of the household, and 
aiming only to enlighten and enrich the spiritual 
life of the family. Surely, if such a work could 
be done in a million homes in America — and why 
not in ten million ? — the moral problems that now 
baffle us would be in a fair way of solution within 
another generation. Is it possible that here lies 
the grandest opportunity of the Christian 
churches of our country today? And may not 
educators and ministers, with intelligent parents 
generally, well counsel together with reference to 
adequate measures for meeting this great need? 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 

The new appreciation of the Bible which has 
been portrayed in the preceding chapters may 
fitly culminate in a fresh estimate of this great 
literature as a means of personal culture. How 
is it related to life in its broadest and best devel- 
opment? Is it archaic, anachronistic, out of 
touch with the real interests of the modern 
world? Or, on the contrary, has it a message, 
a spirit, a power of enduring charm and vitality ? 
If so, how may the individual avail himself of 
the secret which it waits to yield for the enrich- 
ment and glorification of his soul ? 

It all comes to this issue at last. We are 
personal beings, and the personal factor in the 
equation is determinative here as elsewhere. 
What you and I care about the Bible, what we 
propose to do with it, and what it will do for 
us if we cherish it and seek its blessing — this is 
the pivotal question in the whole study which we 
have been pursuing. Like all other treasures, 
whether of learning or of wealth, the spiritual 
riches of the Bible can neither become ours nor 
be given by us to others until we resolve, each for 
himself, to lay hold of them and acquire them 
by rightful conquest. We must pay a price for 
them in honest effort, study, assimilative appro- 
364 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 365 

priation. It is the value of the Bible to you and 
me that most concerns you and me; and it is 
what you and I need tO' doi in order tO' extract 
that value that ought to co-mmand our keenest 
attention. 

I shall speak of culture in a comprehensive 
way, as implying generally what we mean by the 
enlightenment, refinement, and discipline of the 
human spirit. Matthew Arnold's definition of 
culture as "knowing the best that has been 
thought and said in the world," though a liberal 
one, seems to me inadequate; while his other re- 
mark, that "culture is reading, but reading with 
a purpose to guide it, and with system," ^ appears 
to give a still narrower conception, although he 
does well to insist upon the specific idea that "true 
culture implies not only knowledge, but right tact 
and justness of judgment, forming themselves by 
and with knowledge." ^ A better account of cul- 
ture is contained in the words of Principal J. C. 
Shairp : 

When applied to the human being, it means, I sup- 
pose, the "educing or drawing forth all that is potentially 
in a man," the training all the energies and capacities of 
his being to the highest pitch, and directing them to their 

-true ends But culture is not a product of mere 

study. Learning may be got from books, but not culture. 
It is a more living process, and requires that the student 
shall at times close his books, leave his solitary room, 
and mingle with his fellow-men. He must seek the inter- 

1 Literature and Dogma, p. xxvii. 

2 Ibid., p. xxvi. 



366 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

course of living hearts as well as of dead books — especi- 
ally the companionship of those of his own contempo- 
raries whose minds and characters are fitted to instruct, 
elevate and sweeten his own. Another thing required is 
the discipline which must be carried on by each man in 
himself, the learning of self-control, the forming of habits, 
the effort to overcome what is evil and to strengthen 
what is good in his own nature.^ 

I like this view of culture because it presents 
the two aspects which I conceive that real cul- 
ture must always exhibit — influence from others, 
and self-exertion; the essential result, of which is 
character, formed upon the material afforded by- 
nature, and consisting of intelligence, beauty, vir- 
tue, and strength. 

Now if this conception is a just one, as I think 
it is, there ought to be no difficulty in showing 
how the Bible contributes to personal culture, 
that is, to the enlightenment, refinement and 
discipline of the human spirit. 

I. It contributes to the intellectual element in 
culture in several important ways. 

I. It gives the reader who familiarizes him- 
self with its pages an increase of knowledge and 
an enlargement of thought. Taking up the Bible 
simply as literature, and perusing it, not for pur- 
poses of study or criticism, but for instruction 
and enjoyment, just as one might read Homer or 
Shakespeare — naturally, receptively, sympatheti- 
cally — one cannot fail to acquire, in the course 
of years, a very considerable amount of valuable 

^ Culture and Religion, pp. 19, 20. 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 367 

information ; not merely that curious information 
about the land, climate, plants and animals of 
Palestine which some minds like to gather, but 
rather a knowledge of the history of nations and 
of ancient civilizations, of the character of differ- 
ent peoples, of the dominant ideas and the dis- 
tinctive achievements of those great races that 
filled the world with power and glory in the long 
ago. This, assuredly, is a part of true culture ; it 
makes one intelligent respecting some of the chief 
events of the past, and it broadens one's thought 
of human nature and the vast stage on which the 
conspicuous figures of antiquity played their var- 
ious roles. Thus Egypt, Chaldea, Assyria, Baby- 
lonia, Media, Persia, Syria, Phoenicia, Mace- 
donia, Greece, and Rome, along with Israel and 
Arabia, come before the reader, grow distinct, 
and present many a chapter of thrilling interest 
in the early history of mankind. Nor can a 
thoughtful person stop here. Because the Bible 
makes him know something of the beginnings of 
Christianity, he Is led on to learn something of 
its subsequent fortunes; and so he is inevitably 
brought to acquaint himself, at least in outline, 
w^th the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, 
the rise of European nations, and those stupen- 
dous struggles of western Christendom which 
make up the fascinating, impressive story of the 
last sixteen hundred years. Surely, if the Bible 
student gets even a glimpse of such a grand pan- 



368 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

orama, he obtains a wider view than any other 
literature can afford ; and no one can read under- 
standingly any other literature that deals with 
it if he be wholly ignorant of the Bible. The 
Bible lies at the heart of history, and the life- 
blood of nations has surged through it. There- 
fore to know the Bible is to know, or to be led 
to know, the inmost meaning of history. 

2. The Bible also imparts a degree of eleva- 
tion to the mind which gives dignity to culture, 
and a degree of insight which interprets knowl- 
edge and makes culture a joy. The loftiness of 
the themes with which it is occupied, the state- 
liness of its language, and the penetration of the 
views of life and character which it presents con- 
spire to lift the thought of the reader to a high 
plane, and to reveal the inner significance of hu- 
man conduct and national developments. 'T must 
confess to you," said Rousseau, "that the ma- 
jesty of the Scriptures astonishes me; the holiness 
of the Evangelists speaks to my heart and has 
such striking characters of truth, and is, more- 
over, so perfectly inimitable, that if it had been 
the invention of men, the inventors would be 
greater than the greatest heroes." * And Goethe 
wrote: "When, in my youth, my imagination, 
ever active, bore me away, now hither, now 
thither, and when all this blending of history 
and fable, of mythology and religion, threatened 
to unsettle my mind, gladly then did I flee to- 

* Quoted by Farrar in The Bible: Its Meaning and Supremacy. 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 369 

ward those eastern countries. I burled myself 
in the first books of Moses, and there, amidst 
those wandering tribes, I found myself at once in 
the grandest of solitudes and in the grandest of 
societies.'^ ^ Likewise Heinrich Heine exclaimed : 
"What a book! Vast and wide as the world 1 
rooted in the abysses of creation, and towering 
up beyond the blue secrets of heaven! Sunrise 
and sunset, birth and death, promise and fulfil- 
ment, the whole drama of Humanity are all in 
this book !" ^ Surely, a literature that can so 
exalt the mind, and so clarify and deepen its in- 
sight, as to draw forth such judgments from 
such men is of sufificient grandeur and value to 
be most highly esteemed merely as a means of 
intellectual culture. 

n. Not less important is the contribution of 
the Bible to the moral side of culture. 

I. The strongly ethical quality that pervades 
the Scriptures pours a tide of moral influence 
over the mind and heart of the reader which 
awakens, vivifies, and purifies all his moral im- 
pulses. Because the writers of the Bible were so 
powerfully possessed by the ethical spirit, their 
works appeal to the deepest moral instincts in 
us; their portrayal of character in the various 
personages of whom they make mention, and 
their interpretation of the fortunes of their na- 
tion, are nearly always profoundly ethical; and 

^ Quoted by Farrar, op. cit. 
« Ibid. 



370 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

we cannot read their words, whether of narra- 
tive or of prophecy or of poetry, without experi- 
encing a stir of conscience, a quickening of the 
sense of right and wrong, which brings us to a 
clearer moral consciousness than we had before, 
and makes us feel that righteousness and wicked- 
ness are great, solemn realities in human life. 
Consequently everywhere the Bible goes among 
men it produces, if they be led to read it, a tre- 
mendous moral impression, — an awakenment, 
vivification, and purification of the moral sense 
that is the most rectifying influence which has 
ever been exerted upon individuals or nations. 
What Mr. Walter L. Sheldon says of the value 
of the Bible in this respect, with reference to the 
moral education of children, is applicable to all 
childlike races and to mankind in general : 

The beauty of the Bible tales for little ones is that 
the moral points are so pronounced. The lessons come 
out in large letters or heavy type and can be seen almost 

without comment These tales emphasize on a large 

scale the awfulness of the vices or of the evil passions. 
It is the evil of pride, for instance, which is brought out 
over and over again ; or the iniquity of stealing ; or the 
baseness of being untrue to one's home or family. In this 
way at the very outset, before we have gone into any 
subtle analysis, we can make the little ones feel the horror 
of evil conduct, turning their minds with a revulsion 
against stealing or murder, against jealousy, envy, pride, 
wilfulness and disobedience. Respect for life and prop- 
erty, regard for parents, loyalty to the family, submis- 
sion to the law of the State — these are the virtues which 
stand out so boldly in the Old Testament.'^ 

"^ An Ethical Sunday School, pp. 44, 45. 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 37 1 

2. But not only does the Bible thus impress 
and awaken the soul morally, it also moves the 
will and leads to action. Nature gives every one 
of us the moral sense, but in many men it is 
feeble, and in all it is a long time in coming to its 
rightful supremacy; the will is not easily 
brought into submission to the august authority 
of conscience. Now the Bible not only educates 
the conscience by quickening, developing, and 
strengthening it; it also educates the will by 
touching the motives, inspiring self-exertion, 
guiding action, and training the powers of body 
and mind to be in subjection to the law of right- 
eousness engraved upon the tablets of the soul. 
The Bible has been called a literature of power. 
It is such because it moves us, sways us, 
prompts, restrains, urges, checks, guides, and 
sustains us in our efforts to realize an ideal ex- 
cellence which it keeps before us. It shows us 
the way of duty, it reinforces our instinctive ap- 
prehension of its solemn mandate, and it pre- 
sents the highest considerations which may incite 
us to noble endeavor after worthy ends. And, 
surely, there can be no true culture that does not 
go beyond mere contemplation, and issue in con- 
duct and character. I cannot regard him as 
justly entitled to be called a cultivated man in 
whom one whole side of his nature is barren. 
Unless the energies of one's being produce, in 
some degree, the fair fruits of good deeds, the 



372 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

noblest of all qualities, virtue, I think enlighten- 
ment and refinement fall very far short of hav- 
ing their perfect work. And whoever allows 
this element its due place in culture will easily 
agree with Matthew Arnold in putting a high 
estimate upon the Bible as a means of moral edu- 
cation. "As well imagine a man," says he, "with 
a sense for sculpture not cultivating it by the 
help of the remains of Greek art, and a man with 
a sense for poetry not cultivating it by the help 
of Homer and Shakespeare, as a man with a 
sense for conduct not cultivating it by the help 
oi the Bible." ^ 

III. Another element in culture to which the 
Bible renders a potent ministry is the distinc- 
tively religious. We are in the habit of separat- 
ing morality and religion, and in a measure this 
is permissible and perhaps needful. Yet the 
Bible does not divorce them, but rather unites 
them; and the result is that it gives the world an 
ethical religion or a religious morality, to the 
enormous advantage of all the interests con- 
cerned. But, speaking here of religion distinc- 
tively, emphasizing its God-ward side, I affirm, 
and probably no one would deny, that the Bible 
brings us the greatest help in this respect to 
be found in all literature. 

I. It stimulates and arouses the religious in- 
stinct that is native to every human soul. It is 
so full of the religious spirit — deep, strong, ex- 

^ Quoted by Farrar, op. cit. 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 373 

alted — that no man can read its pages for an 
hour without awakening the religious sentiment 
from its too constant slumber, and taking new 
thought for divine things, and feeling that he is 
a subject in the kingdom of God, whose holy- 
laws it is his business to obey. It quickens and 
develops, in at least some slight degree, in every 
soul that receives its great teachings, the beauti- 
ful qualities of reverence, aspiration, trust, hope, 
courage, along with humility, conviction of sin, 
penitence, a yearning for pardon and inner peace, 
and a gracious resignation to the will of Heaven 
that means, not a weak surrender or a Stoic 
fortitude, but a calm patience, a brave confi- 
dence, and an unshaken strength in the heart. 
Who can point to any other writings which pro- 
duce such an effect to so great an extent? The 
whole world of literature does not contain them; 
and were this "river of the water of life" with- 
drawn, our souls would be quickly parched and 
the religious beauty of our civilization would 
soon vanish. 

2. The Bible also spiritualizes religion. Be- 
ginning with crude, anthropomorphic ideas of 
God, in the midst of polytheistic teachings, the 
stream of this literature flows along with the 
course of national development, and purifies it- 
self by dropping its sediment of gross material- 
ism, until in the New Testament — yes, even quite 
early in the Old Testament — it presents us with 



374 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

a pure monotheism, and inculcates a worship 
that is mainly of the heart and life. To be sure, 
rites and ceremonies, temples and sacrifices, laws 
and ordinances are conspicuous, and at first may- 
seem to be all-important; yet as one reads atten- 
tively and becomes familiar with the ruling ideas 
in this great literature, he finds that, beneath and 
behind all ceremonial requirements, the one thing 
demanded of the individual and the nation is 
purity of heart and uprightness of life. Obla- 
tions are vain without this, even in the Old Tes- 
tament; and in the New Testament external 
forms fall into complete subordination, and re- 
ligion is lifted into a region of wonderful vital- 
ity, freedom, and inspiring power. Nowhere 
among all the shrines, cults, and sacred scrip- 
tures of mankind can we find loftier spiritual 
conceptions of the Divine Government, or 
stronger influences making for righteousness 
and true holiness, or a sweeter spirit of grace 
and truth, of majesty and love, than we see and 
feel emanating from this Book of books. It is 
the most potent instrument we possess for the 
spiritualization of religion, the spiritualization 
of civiHzation, and the ultimate spiritualization 
of the world. 

IV. There is still one other element of cul- 
ture to which I must allude as benefiting by the 
influence of the Bible. I refer to what I may call 
self-discipline and social service. The Bible 
teaches the great, twofold lesson of self-control 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 375 

and altruism. It makes a man ashamed of his 
sins; brings him to his knees in penitence and 
prayer; and then lifts him up and starts him out 
to try to be more worthy of himself by curbing 
his evil propensities, by compelling his conduct, 
speech, and thoughts into the way of God's com- 
mandments, and by showing him the highest 
ideal of character he has ever seen. Then it 
drives home into his moral consciousness the 
duty of consideration for others — the truth that 
"no man liveth to himself and noi man dieth to 
himself;" that the claims of society upon every 
man are solemn and divine claims, not to be put 
aside; that justice, mercy, and peace are obliga- 
tions as holy as those o^f worship' — that, in short, 
"all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

By inculcating such ideas and principles the 
Bible tends to help men to self-government, self- 
direction, self-attainment, and at the same time 
helps them to devote themselves to every noble 
interest or enterprise concerning the betterment 
of the world. As a result strong characters are 
produced, and society is continually improved. 
Men who are free, and yet obedient to the divine 
behest, spring up; and they, living in the 
world yet above it, promote every effort to lift 
the world to a higher plane. Thus education, 
philanthropy, reform, missions, and all other hu- 
manitarian works are legitimate fruits of the dis- 



37^ NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ciplining, altruistic influence of the Bible upon 
men's hearts. Assuredly this is culture for the 
individual and culture for society. 

No thought has been more frequently or for- 
cibly expressed in college commencement ser- 
mons and orations, in recent years, than that of 
the duty of educated men to engage in social 
service. They have been urged tO' devote their 
talents and learning to the improvement of poli- 
tics, the better administration of the civil service, 
municipal reform, the wise relief of the poor, 
and the uplift of the lowly in general. Such an 
unselfish ministry is but a proper return to so- 
ciety at large for the advantages which educated 
young people have received; and the fate of 
many of the highest interests of our present civ- 
ilization depends upon the response which the 
intelligent, disciplined, favored classes in Ameri- 
can society shall make toi this great demand. 
But how shall such classes find adequate motive 
for all this? What shall keep culture from be- 
coming selfish? Enlightenment and refinement 
alone will not do this; as witness the experience 
of Greece. It is doubtful, too, whether modern 
sociology, with all its economic and political im- 
plications and considerations, will suflice for so 
exalted an aim as must be cherished by those 
who would redeem the world from its bondage 
to evil. At any rate, it is certain that all other 
inducements and promptings in this direction are 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 377 

powerfully reinforced by the noble moral, reli- 
gious, and humanitarian appeals which the Bible 
makes to the souls of men. Its supreme teach- 
ing that God is not only righteous but merciful, 
and requires both righteousness and mercy of his 
children, glows upon almost every page; and 
when it culminates in the two great command- 
ments given by Jesus, love to God and love to 
man, as the sum and substance of all true moral- 
ity and all vital religion, we begin to get a new 
conception of the social ought, and can under- 
stand Paul's word: "We then that are strong 
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and 
not to please ourselves." ^ Thus the sense of so- 
cial sympathy and the spirit of kindness, which 
are rooted in the very nature of the soul, are 
supplemented and strengthened by the highest 
ethical and religious injunctions, so that a man 
feels himself called of God to spend and be spent 
in the helpful service of his needy fellow-men. 
Here, therefore, is motive, ample and strong, for 
the most unselfish, heroic, consecrated labor that 
any man, however gifted, can perform. Who 
can measure the value of such high sanctions, 
reinforcing all other claims, appeals, and con- 
siderations, prompting talented people to throw 
themselves into the vast enterprise of a world's 
true salvation? And how shall we give social 
effect to all the learning of these days, to all the 
favors enjoyed by the educated classes, unless 

^ Rom. XV. I. See also Gal. v. 13-15; vi. i-io; Eph. iv., etc. 



378 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

each individual thus blessed shall be moved to 
give himself somehow in voice and loving minis- 
try to human need ? If the Bible did nothing else 
but to inspire to such a ministry, it would be well 
worth all it has cost the world. And what no- 
bler element of culture can come to any man 
than the strength of character, the breadth of 
view, the depth of feeling, and the richness of 
spiritual experience which must inevitably result 
from such energetic, altruistic, and reverent 
social service as the Holy Scriptures thus lead 
him tO' render? 

V. In conclusion, we must not forget that the 
culture which the Bible imparts — the enlighten- 
ment, refinement, and discipline of the human 
spirit — is, if the hope of immortality be valid, 
the best preparation we can have for the Great 
Beyond. One does not need to preach here, in 
order tO' enforce this truth ; and although the in- 
terest in the question of a future life may not be 
so keen today as it has sometimes been, partly 
because this present world is more comfortable 
than it used to be, it is nevertheless far from be- 
ing "a negligible quantity" for thoughtful minds. 
And the point here insisted upon is simply that, 
if we are to live hereafter, the culture which the 
Bible furnishes is truly the culture of eternal 
life. "We brought nothing into this world, and 
it is certain that we can carry nothing out" ex- 
cept ourselves and our most vital, most personal 



THE BIBLE AND PERSONAL CULTURE 379 

acquisitions. "The fruit of the spirit" is the 
only fruit which we shall bear away from the 
fields of our earthly experience. The riches of 
the soul are the only enduring riches. The mo- 
ment comes, soon or late, when every man begins 
to think about these. Jesus Christ sought to 
confer his greatest benefit upon the individual 
heart by helping it to attain to "eternal life" — 
the life of the eternal part of human nature. His 
teaching and ministry in this respect are full of 
solemn significance to one who tries to appre- 
ciate the true greatness of life, who desires to 
realize the blessings of true personal culture. 
The cultivation of the heart, the enrichment of 
the soul ''toward God," the development of the 
love of God, including the love of all goodness, 
all beauty, all holiness — this is a kind of culture 
that not only crowns our present existence with 
glory and honor, but involves (if anything does) 
"the power of an endless life." So the Bible, by 
helping us to gain this supreme wealth, this 
finest, purest spiritual discipline, not only fits us 
for our best usefulness here, but (so far as we 
can see) gives us the best preparation we can 
have for the unknown privileges and possibilities 
of the great, wonderful spirit world. For it is 
written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man the 
things which God hath prepared for them that 
love him." 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE BIBLE AND THE SPREAD OF WESTERN 
CIVILIZATION 

There are three principal spheres for the in- 
fluence of the Bible — the individual, the social, 
and the universal. At least it may promote 
clear thought toi distinguish such spheres, al- 
though of course they overlap one another and 
are interdependent. The primary and chief serv- 
ice which the Scriptures render is always a per- 
sonal one, consisting in the vital, spiritual im- 
provement of each man, woman, or child who 
really receives their great message. Their sec- 
ondary service is rendered to society within the 
immediate circles where they have been long and 
best known, and consists in helping powerfully 
to maintain the exalted ideals and the wholesome 
tendencies of those social institutions which have 
grown up, in no small degree, under their in- 
spiration. But beyond all this they have a third 
ministry to perform to the vast world lying out- 
side the boundaries of Judaism and Christianity, 
and it consists essentially in the moral and reli- 
gious illumination and purification of nearly a 
thousand million human beings who have not yet 
been effectually reached by their life-giving 
teachings. 

Those people who have most thoroughly ex- 
380 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 381 

perienced the helpfulness of the Bible to the in- 
dividual soul, and those communities or nations 
that have most surely demonstrated its social 
value, in contributing to the production oi the 
beneficent institutions of modern civilization, 
must be the most keenly interested in studying 
the relation which this wonderful Book bears to 
the extension of this civilization over the face 
of the earth. For precisely here lies the greatest 
fact of the present age, namely, that our modern 
civilization is now spreading throughout the 
world. Accordingly it will be highly profitable 
to glance at the developments which have 
brought about the existing situation, so marvel- 
ous and so promising; to look somewhat closely 
at the character of the civilization referred 
tO'; and then to consider the peculiar function 
of the Bible as a factor in universal human 
progress. 

I. The dominant note in the public affairs of 
the world today is internationalism. All coun- 
tries are open, all races are flowing together, 
travel and commerce extend everywhere, and in- 
tercommunication is rapid and constant. The 
so-called Great Powers have been recently ex- 
panding, or striving to expand, in every possible 
way — acquiring control of new regions, increas- 
ing their military and naval equipment on a 
gigantic scale, seeking likewise to increase their 
wealth, and also augmenting their educational 



382 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

resources. While this expansion presents one of 
its most notable instances in the case of Japan, 
an oriental nation, and another striking example 
in the case of Russia, which may be said to be 
half oriental, it has been mainly conspicuous on 
the part of such western countries as Germany, 
France, Great Britain, and the United States of 
America. The result is that we now see India 
and Egypt occupied and governed by Great Brit- 
ain; South Africa largely under her control, and 
the rest of the Dark Continent opening to Eu- 
ropean colonization; Australia and her neigh- 
boring islands growing in population, wealth, 
and power; Japan surprisingly awakened to a 
new day and a career of marvelous promise; 
China opened to commerce and new industries, 
and apparently on the eve of momentous devel- 
opments; Russia pushing her interests eastward, 
inviting peasant farmers to her millions oi acres of 
agricultural lands in Siberia, and just at present 
the scene of critical social struggles ; the American 
Republic lately thrust into^ a larger sphere of in- 
fluence in the Far East as well as nearer home, 
and undoubtedly destined henceforth tO' play a 
more prominent part in the drama of nations; 
and South America beginning toi make her vast 
resources known, and likely to have increasing 
trade relations with the Anglo-Saxon peoples on 
both sides of the Atlantic. How remarkable is 
all this ! What a new face it puts upon the world, 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 383 

as compared with a century or even a half-century 
ago! And hoiw untold are the possiblities which 
it portends! 

Many factors have contributed to these won- 
derful results. Scientific discoveries and me- 
chanical inventions have been, without doubt, 
the most effective. The mariner's compass, gun- 
powder, the printing press, paper, the steam en- 
gine, and the electric telegraph have been the 
principal agencies which have enabled the mod- 
ern man to overrun the earth, and have pro- 
duced the varied and enormous material expan- 
sion of the present era. The following signifi- 
cant facts, cited from a recent magazine article,* 
afford a glimpse of the vast change which is rap- 
idly taking place : 

One may now go from Glasgow to Stanley Falls, in 
Africa, in forty-three days. Already there are forty-six 
steamers on the Upper Congo, and the railroad running 
northward from Cape Town is being pushed so rapidly 
that the British Association for the Advancement of 
Science has been invited to meet, in 1905, at Victoria 
Falls. Within a few years the Englishman's dream will 
be realized in a railroad from Cairo to the Cape. Already 
the distance is half covered. Uganda is reached by rail, 
and sleeping and dining cars safely run the 575 miles 
from Cairo to Khartum, where, only five years ago Kitch- 
ener fought the savage hordes of the Mahdi. 

Japan, which, fifty years ago, did not own even a 
Jinrikisha, now has 4,237 miles of well managed rail- 
road, while India is gridironed by 25,373 miles of steel 
rails, which carry 195,000,000 passengers annually. 

1 Arthur Judson Brown, "The Opened World," The American 
Monthly Review of Reviews, October, 1904. 



384 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

According to Walter J. Ballard, the aggregate capital 
invested in railways at the end of 1902 was $36,850; 000,000, 
and the total mileage was 532,500, distributed as follows: 

United States 202,471 miles 

Europe 180,708 " 

Asia 41,814 " 

South America 28,654 " 

North America (except United States) . . 24,032 " 

Australia 15,649 " 

Africa 14,187 " 

Telegraph lines belt the globe, enabling even the pro- 
vincial journals to print the news of the entire world 

during the preceding twenty-four hours The total 

length of all telegraph lines in the world is 4,908,921 miles, 
the nerves of our modern civiHzation. 

The submarine cables aggregate 1,751 in number, and 
over 200,000 miles in length, and annually transmit more 
than 6,000,000 messages, Annihilating the time and dis- 
tance which formerly separated nations. 

Commerce has taken swift and massive advantage of 
these facilities for intercommunication. Its ships whiten 
every sea. The products of European and American 
manufacture are flooding the earth. The United States 
Treasury Bureau of Sta^tistics estimates that the value 
of the manufactured articles which enter into the inter- 
national commerce of the world is $4,000,000,000, and that 
of this vast total the United States furnished $400,000,000, 
its foreign trade having increased over 100 per cent, 
since 1895. 

And these are only a few illustrations of the changes 
that are taking place all over the world. "The swift 
ships of commerce," says Dr. Josiah Strong, "are mighty 
shuttles which are weaving the nations together into one 
great web of life." 

Other influences have been at work toward 
the same grand end — but it must suf!ice merely 
to mention them — such as curiosity and the love 
of adventure and of knowledge, leading to ex- 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 3^5 

ploration and travel; philanthropy, bringing 
about international assemblages; scholarship, es- 
tablishing worldwide intellectual communions; 
literature; international politics and law; and, 
last but surely not least, religious devotion and 
enterprise, creating extensive inter-racial mis- 
sionary operations. 

Thus the world which lies open at the begin- 
ning of the twentieth century is practically the 
entire world, and the mighty currents of our 
western civilization are destined henceforth to 
lave the shores of all lands. No movement in 
the whole history of mankind was ever fraught 
with such stupendous possibilities. 

II. At this point we may properly examine 
the character of our western civilization, now 
brought to so unparalleled a juncture. A com- 
plete account of it cannot be given in a few 
pages, but its most essential traits may be 
indicated at least. 

T. Of course it is the youngest civilization, 
being " — heir of all the ages, in the foremost 
files of time." The modern nations of western 
Europe, mainly of Teutonic stock, together with 
the mixed populations of America, are still 
youthful as compared with the races of the Ori- 
ent. Fifteen centuries at most comprise the 
period of their growing prominence and power, 
their developing institutions, their unfolding 
ideas and ideals. Indeed, one-third of this 



386 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Stretch of time may be said to cover all the not- 
able, and therefore truly characteristic, products 
or manifestations of our strictly modern civiliza- 
tion. Back of the age of the Renaissance it is 
the ancient order, the mind of antiquity, that still 
reigns. It is only since the Renaissance that 
western civilization may be properly said to have 
realized itself and to have come to anything like 
maturity and legitimate fruitfulness. This gen- 
eral fact shows how recent in the world's history 
are the social and political institutions, the litera- 
ture and art, the learning and educational enter- 
prise, the science and industry which belong 
peculiarly toi the Occident and which mark so 
strikingly the present age. 

Yet, though seen thus to be young, our west- 
ern civilization, in the sense here spoken of, is 
itself the product, in large degree, of influences 
vastly older. That is to say, it enjoys a rich her- 
itage from a long past. The languages and his- 
tories, the mythologies and religions, the philos- 
ophies and laws, the arts and customs of Rome 
and Greece, even of Egypt and Babylon, and 
most certainly of Israel, have contributed won- 
derfully, both in letter and in spirit, to the mold- 
ing of this latest-born type of social life. Upon 
a fresh stock of race-material these ancient 
grafts have been made, with the happy result 
that the fruits thus produced are a blending of 
the good qualities, with less of the bad also, of 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 387 

both antiquity and modernity. It is impossible 
to separate, or always to distinguish, these var- 
ious commingling streams of influence flowing 
from out the past into the present ; but it is cause 
for profound gratitude and high hope that they 
are real and mighty forces in the life of our time, 
so making our western civilization cumulative in 
spiritual wealth and power. 

2. Because this civilization is young and has 
been so enriched by older civilizations, it is full 
of fresh energy. It is not stagnant, it presents 
no signs of senility, it is rather surprisingly alert, 
enterprising, and progressive. It displays activ- 
ity everywhere, with increasing intensity — so 
much so, indeed, that this aspect is often the first 
to strike, and not altogether favorably, an intel- 
ligent visitor from the Orient in the western 
countries. Said an educated Japanese to a New 
England college president lately : ''Can we have 
all these material equipments and conveniences 
— your railroads, telegraphs, telephones, and 
buildings — without your American hurry?" 
Undesirable as the "hurry" is, which must even- 
tually slow down, we must recognize the fact that 
it springs out of certain racial endowments, 
doubtless stimulated, if not generated, by cli- 
matic conditions, which have given strength and 
achievement to the peoples that most truly 
represent this civilization. 

The native Teutonic habit of mind, underlying the 



388 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

English, American, and German character, represents 
of necessity, certain qualities— tenacity of purpose, deter- 
mination in the presence of oppostion, love for action, and 
hunger for power, all tending to express themselves 
through the State — which were the necessary equipment of 
that military type which has won in the supreme stress of 
Natural Selection its right of place as the only type able 
to hold the stage of the world in the long epoch during 
which the present is destined to pass under the control 
of the future.^ 

The energy yielded by these natural traits — 
"tenacity of purpose, determination in the pres- 
ence of opposition, love for action, and hunger 
for power" — which formerly exercised itself in 
military directions chiefly, and later in political, 
is now flowing mainly in other channels, — indus- 
trial, commercial, educational, scientific. The 
result is a rapid and enormous increase of popu- 
lation and wealth. Mr. Benjamin Kidd, in the 
work just cited, says: 

During a brief period of some two hundred years, 
our western world has been transformed. The increase 
in natural resources, in wealth, in population, and in the 
distance which has been placed between our modern civ- 
ilization and any past condition of the race, has been enor- 
mous. During the last half of this period, that is to say, 
during the nineteenth century alone, while the population of 
the rest of the world remained nearly stationary, the actual 
numbers of the European peoples rose from 170,000,000 to 

500,000,000 These figures are to be taken only 

as an index to the stupendous changes which have taken 
place, and which are still in progress, beneath the surface 
of life and thought throughout the entire fabric of our 
civilization. It matters not in what direction we look, the 
character of the revolution which has been effected is the 

* Benjamin Kidd, Western Civilization, p. 372. 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 389 

same. In inventions, in commerce, in the arts of civilized 
life, in most of the theoretical and applied sciences, and 
in nearly every department of investigation and research, 
the progress of western knowledge and equipment during 
the period in question has been striking beyond compari- 
son. In many directions it has been so great that it 
undoubtedly exceeds in this brief period the sum of all 
the previous advance made by the race.^ 

3. The fresh, abundant energy of our west- 
ern civilization, thus expressing itself in mani- 
fold forms of expansion and production, is sup- 
plemented by another characteristic element of 
great value, namely, liberality. It is inherently 
democratic, fraternal, co-operative. To be sure, 
this trait or tendency has not been fully wrought 
out as yet; and crudeness, selfishness, even vio- 
lence and oppression, contradicting the claim of 
liberality, may be all too frequently pointed out. 
Nevertheless at heart the whole western move- 
ment is essentially democratic ; it is a fruit of the 
rising spirit of liberty in ever-widening circles of 
society ; and that spirit both compels and concedes, 
in the last analysis, mutual tolerance and respect. 
It inspires the individual to fight, if need be, for 
his own rights; but it makes him learn by the 
very exigency of the contest that others also 
have rights. And while it is sadly true that some 
of the peoples who have had most to do in ex- 
tending western civilization into remote and alien 
regions — as in India and Africa, for instance — 
have exercised their power sometimes with a 

3 Western Civilization, pp. 346, 347. 



390 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ruthless disregard of the interests of weaker 
races, so that the march of this civilization has 
often been a bloody conquest, yet instinctively 
and on the whole the advance has meant and 
brought good rather than evil. Despite a host of 
facts which seem to give the lie to the assertion, 
the dominant ideal among English-speaking 
people is that which embraces the great princi- 
ples of liberty, brotherhood, equality, co-opera- 
tion. The ideal is far, very far, from perfect 
realization, save perhaps within few and limited 
circles; but it lives in the souls of men, it 
floats before the whole western world, and such 
progress as is actually accomplished is in the 
direction of its further realization. 

It is because of the potency of this ideal, the 
vital strength of the democratic impulse, grad- 
ually making itself felt throughout our western 
civilization, that there has been so remarkable a 
liberalizing process in the progress of the nine- 
teenth century. Here again Mr. Kidd's words 
may be fitly quoted : 

This vast advance has been accompanied by condi- 
tions of the rapid disintegration of all absolutisms within 

which the human spirit had hitherto been confined 

It has been the age of the unfettering of discussion 
and of competition; of the enfranchisement of the indi- 
vidual, of classes, of parties, of opinions, of commerce, of 
industry, and of thought. Into the resulting conditions of 
the social order all the forces, powers, and equipments of 
human nature have been unloosed. It has been the age 
of the development throughout our civilization of the con- 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 391 

ditions of such rivalry and strenuousness, of such con- 
flict and stress, as has never prevailed in the world be- 
fore It is not into the end but into the beginning 

of an era that we have been born We are living 

in the midst of a system of things by the side of which 
no other system will in the end survive as a rival in the 
world.* 

Here, then, we see the three distinguishing 
characteristics of western civihzation, especially 
as exhibited by the English-speaking peoples, to 
wit: first, its youthfulness, implying a rich her- 
itage from the long past ; second, its fresh, abund- 
ant energy, leading to manifold forms of ex- 
pansion and production; and, third, its liberal, 
democratic, fraternal spirit, conducing to a 
growing freedom for the individual, a growing 
equality of conditions and opportunities, an in- 
creasing sense of human brotherhood, and the 
beginning of a worldwide co-operation for se- 
curity, peace, and universal improvement. Al- 
though the last-mentioned quality may seem 
somewhat imaginary to many readers, and al- 
though it is freely conceded to be largely ideal as 
yet, nevertheless it is a very vital and potent 
ideal, which will be slowly but grandly realized 
as our civilization advances toward its legitimate 
goal. And in considering so stupendous a move- 
ment as the development and trend of this 
mighty civilization, with particular reference to 
its very highest traits, we shall do well to 

* Western Civilization, pp. 347-49. 



392 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

ponder the words of Professor Franklin H. 

Giddings : 

Every nation that has played an important part in the 
elevation of mankind from barbarism to enlightenment, 
from despotism to civil liberty, from ruthless cruelty to 
compassion and fraternity, has begun its career with a 
magnificent display of power, has continued it in the lust 
of wealth, has learned the lessons of restraint and sacri- 
fice, and at length has come to some appreciation of the 
infinite capacities, the immeasurable potential value of 
the human soul. It has begun with conquest; but it has 
crowned its career with mercy and beneficence.^ 

Duly studying the history and drift of west- 
ern civilization in the light of this remark, and 
granting vast imperfections and short-comings 
as yet in the working-out of its inherent tenden- 
cies, we can scarcely hesitate to agree with Pro- 
fessor Giddings in his further assertion, that a 
prominent 

characteristic of the highest ideal in its modern form is 
its content of ardent and generous feeling. It desires the 
widest opportunity and the highest attainment, not 
merely for the few, but equally for all classes and all 
races. It is vital with philanthropic interest and mis- 
sionary earnestness. It is thoroughly democratic, and in- 
cludes an unbounded faith in the future of the people.' 

III. Now we are prepared to consider the re- 
lation of the Bible to these most significant facts. 
We have seen that our western civilization is 
going out through all the earth, and its words to 
the end of the world ; and that its three dominant 

^ In Democracy and Empire (Macmillan Co., 1900), p. 315. 
« Ibid., p. 335. See whole chapter. 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 393 

characteristics are its youthfulness, its vigor, and 
its liberality. Under the figure of a gracious 
queen, it may be said that her feet are wet with 
the dew of the morning, that her countenance 
is radiant with the sunshine of a new day, and 
that her soul is aflame with the essential spirit of 
the kingdom of heaven. How is the Bible 
concerned in her mission among the nations? 

Broadly speaking, the answer to this question 
will be found to lie in the influence of the Bible 
upon the ideals of mankind, just touched upon in 
the foregoing paragraphs. And here let one 
more word be quoted from Professor Giddings: 

The creation of ideals is one of the highest activities 
of the human mind. Into his ideals enters man's estimate 
of the past and his forecast of the future; his scientific 
analysis, and his poetic feeling; his soberest judgment, 
and his religious aspiration. Yet in the growth of the 
most spiritual ideal, as in that of the humblest material 
organism, we have a perfect illustration of the laws of 
evolution. The ideal, no less than any phenomenon of 
physical life, is a product of ceaseless transformations 
of energy, of continual re-groupings of things, of an end- 
less struggle for existence This continuity of its 

evolution is the spiritual thread of history; it is the suc- 
cession and combination of historic themes Egypt 

and Babylonia created the national ideals of power and 
splendor; Iran and Judea of ceremonial righteousness; 
Greece created the ideal of citizenship; Rome the ideal 
of justice. England has created the ideal of civil liberty; 
France the ideal of social equality. America is slowly but 
surely creating the ideal of a broad and perfect equity, 
in which liberty and equality shall for all time be recon- 
ciled and combined.'^ 

"^ Democracy and Empire, pp. 339, 340. 



394 NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Now we may clearly perceive the specific 
bearings of the great truth which this chapter is 
elucidating. 

1. The Bible has been, unquestionably, a 
powerful instrument in the formation of the best 
ideals of our western civilization. It was a large 
factor in furnishing the ideas and in shaping the 
policy of the rising Roman Catholic Church in 
the early Middle Ages; it was the chief fountain 
of inspiration for the Reformers; and its influ- 
ence has entered most vitally, profoundly, and 
pervasively into the thought, faith, conduct, and 
social organization of all Protestant Christen- 
dom. Its stamp can be traced, not only upon re- 
ligious forms, dogmas, and institutions, but also 
upon art, philosophy, education, literature, law, 
politics, and domestic customs. It has reached 
the heart of our civilization as nothing else has 
done, voicing its aspiration, molding its hopes 
and fears, and guiding its humanitarian and spir- 
itual impulses; until we may justly claim that 
our very highest and purest conceptions of what 
life ought to be, for the individual and for so- 
ciety, for the nation and for the world, even for 
the present and for the future, are begotten of 
this ancient, mighty, and holy literature. 

2. No sane man, acquainted with the best 
things in our western civilization, can doubt 
that the Bible will continue to be one of the 
greatest agencies available for maintaining our 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 395 

noblest ideals. Having been so potent in their 
formation, it will be further potent in their per- 
petuation, albeit in modified ways. Some of the 
dark, false, baneful conceptions and influences 
which have accompanied these ideals in the past, 
drawn from or buttressed by the Bible, because 
men have misunderstood and misapplied its con- 
tents, will fall away; but the clarified stream of 
its moral and religious power will still flow 
forth into the teeming life of the modern age, 
quickening every good impulse of the human 
heart and prompting to every good work. The 
task of adequately maintaining thus all that is 
true and valuable in our spiritual life, appreciat- 
ing our great heritage, our precious privileges, 
and our solemn responsibilities, so that the peo- 
ples of the western world may not retrograde, 
but may fulfil their sublime mission among the 
nations — this task is most serious and important. 
In the words of President Roosevelt : 

In the last analysis the work of statesmen and sol- 
diers, the work of the public man, shall go for nothing 
if it is not based on the spirit of Christianity working in 
the millions of homes throughout this country; so that 
there may be that social, that spiritual, that moral founda- 
tion without which no country can ever rise to permanent 
greatness. For material well-being, material prosperity, 
success in arts, in letters, great industrial triumphs, all of 
them, and all of the structure raised thereon will be as 
evanescent as a dream if it does not rest on the righteous- 
ness that exalteth a nation.® 

* Address in Lutheran Church, Washington, D. C, January 29, 
1905. 



39^ NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

Here is clearly indicated, not only one of the 
great functions of the Christian Church, but like- 
wise one of the great services of the Bible. For 
the inculcation of righteousness and the Chris- 
tian spirit, the Bible will continue to be, as it has 
been, the chief instrument wielded by the church. 
In the reverent, ethical, loving influence which it 
exerts; in the lofty conceptions which it incul- 
cates; in the strength which it imparts; and in 
the insight which it gives, we shall be enabled, 
if we use it intelligently and lay to heart its true 
lessons, to maintain the highest ideals and the 
most worthy tendencies of our western civiliza- 
tion in the countries where it has developed. 

3. As this civilization spreads abroad, in and 
through the people who go into distant lands for 
whatsoever purpose, having dealings with other 
nations, it must inevitably bear, in one way or 
another, the influence of the Bible; while more 
and more, as Christian missions extend, the 
Book itself will be used, circulated, and studied 
among the numerous races and kindreds of the 
earth. In this vast, outlying field it will help to 
form the new ideals which will slowly grow up 
in the changing life of such alien divisions of the 
human family. Not wholly will they accept it, 
perhaps; certainly they will put their own inter- 
pretations upon it, and not ours; and undoubt- 
edly its messages to them will be all the more 
helpful when blended with, and somewhat mod- 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 397 

ified by, the truth and beauty which have in- 
hered in their forms of thought and faith. Nev- 
ertheless it will serve to give them new and in- 
spiring conceptions^of the fatherhood of God, 
of the brotherhood of man, of immortality; it 
will quicken the sense of sin and hoHness; it 
will instil the love of righteousness and peace; 
it will emancipate and elevate woman; it will 
purify, dignify and sanctify the home; it will 
make for liberty, equality, fraternity, and lead 
eventually — far off — to the abolition of slavery 
and war. At least it will hold up the ideals of 
such sublime attainments before the various peo- 
ples of the earth ; and so, by degrees, it will teach 
them to live and labor for the establishment of 
the kingdom of heaven, the universal reign of 
righteousness and love, among the children of 
men. Thus it will tend to vitalize and spiritual- 
ize the older civilizations, to overcome barbarism 
and savagery, and to lift human life everywhere 
into the sunshine of divine love. 

In order that the Bible, going forth with our 
western civilization, and in a measure represent- 
ing it, may the more speedily render this exalted 
service and win its legitimate place of power, it 
must be commended and not belied by the con- 
duct of the people who have been reared under 
its influence. In the commingling of races and 
international interests which is to be the most 
distinguishing phenomenon of the immediate 



39^ NEW APPRECIATION OF THE BIBLE 

future, intimately concerning the welfare of all 
peoples, great and small, it is of the very highest 
importance that the exponents of our western 
civilization, known as Christians and educated 
in the Bible, should he true to their ideals. 
Nothing can more efficiently help them to do this 
than the Bible itself, while nothing can more 
justly enable our civilization to win its true 
supremacy among the nations. 

Yet, in spite of all delinquencies in this respect, 
"the word of God standeth sure." The truth in 
the Bible, because it is truth, may be trusted to 
win its way; likewise the truth abo-ut the Bible. 
Evil is still powerful in our civilization and cen- 
tury, as it has always been; human nature is im- 
perfect, and error darkens much of our thought 
and teaching. Nevertheless the exalted spiritual 
ideals of the Bible still make, and will continue 
to make, a mighty appeal to the human soul, 
and constitute the surest leverage we possess 
for lifting ourselves and the world to a higher 
plane. So we may expect them, approving 
themselves to every man's conscience in the sight 
of God, to teach mankind, by degrees, through 
the ages, the wickedness and foolishness of 
wrong-doing, the futility of error, the wasteful- 
ness of strife; and, on the other hand, the value 
of the riches of righteousness, the beauty of 
holiness, the splendor of truth, the glory of spir- 
itual freedom, the blessedness of peace and 



THE BIBLE AND CIVILIZATION 399 

brotherhood, and the everlasting worth of the 
human soul made in the Divine image and 
endued with "the power of an endless life." 

As we thus contemplate the vast field await- 
ing the Bible, the beneficent service which it is 
capable of rendering, and the facilities now af- 
forded for its rapidly increasing circulation, we 
are thrilled by the vision of its marvelous oppor- 
tunities for spiritual usefulness; and as we re- 
flect that at length it is being emancipated 
from the thraldom of erroneous conceptions of 
its nature and meaning, and from the constric- 
tion of false systems of dogma which haAX often 
surrounded it, we may rejoice with exceeding 
great joy to believe that this ancient Sacred 
Literature, far fromi having finished its work, 
is but just entering upon its largest and most 
glorious mission among the nations. 

Word of life, most pure and strong, 
Lol for thee the nations long; 
Spread, till from its drear}' night 

All the world awakes to light. 

Lord of all men, let there be 
Joy and strength to work for thee ; 
Let the nations far and near 

See thv Hsjht, and learn thv fear. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abbot, Ezra, on Fourth Gos- 
pel, 144. 

Addis, W. E., Documents of 
the Hexateuch, 109, iii, 
291. 

Adeney, W. F. : editor of 
New-Century Bible, 46 ; au- 
thor of How to Read the 
Bible, 2S6 ; Introduction 
by Bennett and, 113. 

Adler, Dr. Felix, on Bible 
and moral education, 333. 

Alexandria, Greek-speaking 
Jews in, 31. 

American Standard Revision, 
44, 45. 

Amos, Book of, 99. 

Apocalypse, the, 125. 

Apocrypha: the Old Testa- 
ment, 97 ; the New Testa- 
ment, 124. 

Appreciation of the Bible : 
The New, 227 f. ; the Old, 
232 ; as history, 240 ; as 
literature, 235 ; as a reve- 
lation of life, 243. 

Approximate dates : of New 
Testament books, table of, 
by Bacon, 155 ; of Old 
Testament books and 
events, 118, 119. 

Arabia, mention of, 367. 

Armaic language, 82, 83. 

Asia Minor, scene of Paul's 
work, 132-34. 

Assyria, mention of, 367. 

Assyrian overthrow of Sa- 
maria, lOI. 

Astruc, Jean, discoverer of 
twofold narrative in Gen- 
esis, 108. 



Augustine, mention of, 158. 

Authority : defined, 204, 205 ; 
nature of, possessed by 
Bible and Christ, 213 f.; 
of the Bible, chapter on, 
202 f. ; objective, 206 f. ; of 
the Roman Catholic church, 
51; subjective, 208 f. ; tra- 
ditional view of, 51. 

Authorized Version, 29, 33, 
37, 38; 294. 

Babylon, captivity in, loi. 

Babylonia, loi. 

Bacon, Professor B. W. : au- 
thor of Genesis of Genesis, 
108; on anonymity of New 
Testament books, 127 ; on 
dates of New Testament 
books, table from his In- 
troduction, 155 ; on the 
Fourth Gospel, 146 ; on 
Bible education, 340. 

Bascom, Dr. John, on in- 
spiration, 162. 

Batten, Professor L. W., re- 
ferred to, 109. 

Bennett and Adeney, au- 
thors of Introduction, 113. 

Beza and Calvin in Geneva, 
32. 

Bible, the: among nations, 
398 ; attitude of Catholics 
toward, 34 ; authority of, 
202 f. ; Bishop's, the 32 ; 
Cambridge Companion to, 
33, 42 ; cardinal excellences 
of, 269 f. ; discrepancies in, 
165 ; divine revelation in, 
i8of. ; Genevan, the, 32; 
the Great, 31 ; historical in- 
formation regarding, need- 



403 



404 



INDEX 



ed in reading, 287, 288 ; 
how to read, in modern 
aspects, 284 f ; increased 
knowledge of, leads to re- 
ligious quickening, 2.(iT, 
268 ; individual brought to 
self-realization by, 272 f. ; 
influence of, not due to 
any particular theory about 
it, zdd, 267 ; infallibility 
of) 53, 54 ; in the home, 
348 f. ; interpretative read- 
ings of, 297, 298 ; Intro- 
duction to, for Teachers 
of Children, 361 ; in public 
school, 324 ; in relation to 
personal culture, 364 f. ; in 
relation to social service, 
37A-77 ; more interesting 
than formerly, 355 ; power 
of, in shaping ideals, 394 ; 
large and honorable place 
of, 3 ; Messages of, 45 ; 
Modern Reader's 45, 297 ; 
plenary inspiration of, 53, 
54 ; progress of ideas in, 
64 ; service of, to our own 
time, 265 f. ; Rheims and 
Douai, 32 ; teaching of, on 
immortality, 378, 379 ; 
Temple, The, 46 ; and 
spread of western civiliza- 
tion, 380 f. 

Book of Common Prayer, 

psalms in, 31. 
Books, ancient mode of 

composing, 104, 105. 
Briggs, Professor C. A., 49, 

83, 86, 89, no. III, 145. 
Brinton, Daniel G., reference, 

170. 
Browning, Robert, quoted, 

186. 
Budde, Professor Karl, 112; 

Old Testament dates given 

by, 117, 118. 



Burns, Robert, quoted, 233, 

234. 
Burton and Mathews, quoted, 

183. 



Caedmon, 27. 

Calvin : and Beza at Geneva, 
Z2', on a biblical quotation, 
164. 

Cambridge : Companion to 
Bible, 33, 34 ; Erasmus 
as lecturer at University 
of, 28. 

Canaan, date of invasion of, 
100. 

Canon, 19, 98 ; New Testa- 
ment, 20 ; E. C. Moore on, 
20 ; Old Testament, com 
pleted, 121. 

Captivity : of Jews in Baby- 
lon, loi ; "epistles of," 
136. 

Chaldeans, mention of, 103. 

Character, demand for, in 
education, 334. 

Christ, his power over the 
human soul, 211. 

Christianity, distinct types 
of, in New Testament, 
148 f. 

Chronicles, Books of, 114. 

Chronology: of New Testa- 
ment, 130, 155 ; of Old 
Testament, 117, 118. 

Civilization, western, char- 
acter of, 385. 

Climate, effect of, on manu- 
scripts, 74. 

Codex : Sinaiticus, 24, 40 ; 
Vaticanus, 24, 41. 

Coleridge, S. T., quoted, 167. 

Cone, Dr. Orello, quoted, 
155. 



INDEX 



405 



Constantine the Great, 19 ; 
ordered copies of Bible, 22. 

Cornill, Professor C. H., au- 
thor, 100. 

Council of Trent, decree of, 

respecting reading of Bible, 

36. 
Coverdale, Miles, translator, 

30. 
Cranmer, 31 ; "Cranmer's 

Bible," 31. 
Criticism : development of, 

87; higher, ^2, 85, 86; 

lower, ^2 ; meaning of, 

70-72. 
Cromwell, Thomas, 30, 
Crusades, mentioned, 28. 
Culture : definition of, 365 ; 

Bible and, 364 f. 
Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas 

visit, 132. 
Cyrus, 90, loi. 

Damascus, Saul (Paul) in, 
129. 

Damasus, Pope, sanctioned 
Jerome's work, 23. 

Daniel, Book of, 105. 

Deuteronomy, 105, 106, 109, 
no ; date of, in. 

Discrepancies in Bible, 165. 

Discrimination, need of in 
using Bible in Sunday 
school, 314. 

Divineness, traces of, in 
universe, 185. 

Divine revelation in Bible, 
53 ; chapter on, 180 f. 

Divine Spirit, direct action 
of, upon human spirit, 
195. 

Domestic worship : appar- 
ently declining, 352 ; dif- 
ficulty of maintaining, 357. 



Driver, Professor, 104 ; on 

date of Deuteronomy, in ; 

on date of Chronicles-Ne- 

hemiah, 114. 
Drummond, Henry, quoted, 

327. 
Drummond, Principal James : 

reference, 144; quoted on 

Fourth Gospel, 146. 

Ecclesiastes, 99. 

Egypt, antiquity of, 247. 

Egyptians, their knowledge 

of writing, 103. 
Eichorn, 108. 
Elohist document in Hexa- 

teuch, 109. 
Elohim, name for Deity, 108. 
Erasmus : at Cambridge, 28 ; 

his Greek Testament pub- 
lished, 28 note. 
Excellences of the Bible, 

269 f. 
Europe, races making, 249. 
Exodus from Egypt, date of, 

100. 
Expansion, factors producing, 

383. 
Expansion of great powers, 

recent, 381, 382. 

Farrar, Archdeacon, quoted 
on inspiration, 160 f. 

Fisher, Professor G. P., ref- 
erence, 50. 

Fowler, Professor H. T., 
quoted, 342. 

Fourth Gospel, 92, 123, 139, 
148 f. 

Froude, James Anthony, on 
Erasmus, 28. 

Genesis, distinct accounts of 
creation in Book of, io8. 



4o6 



INDEX 



Genesis of Genesis, by B. 

W. Bacon, reference, io8. 
Genesis of Social Conscience, 

by H. S. Nash, 258; 

quoted, 327, 328. 
Gesta Christi, by C. L. Brace, 

254; quoted, 255. 
Giddings, Professor F. H., 

quoted, 392, 393. 
Gilbert, Professor G. H., 

reference, 155. 
Gospels: dates of, 142, 155; 

composite nature of, 138 f. 
Greece, mention of, 102. 

Hagiographa, 121. 

Hamburg, 30. 

Harnack, Professor Adolf, 
50. 

Hebrew language, 82. 

Hebrew race, spiritual prog- 
ress of, 198. 

Hebrews, type of Christian- 
ity in Epistle to the, 150 f. 

Henson, Canon Henley, 
quoted, 280. 

Hermann, Professor Wil- 
helm, quoted, 219, 220. 

Hexateuch, 107, 109, no, 
in; analysis of, not per- 
fect, 116. 

History, deeper always spir- 
itual, 264. 

Home: the Bible in, chapter 
on, 348 f. ; educational 
function of, 350 ; field for 
cultivation by churches, 
357, 358, 363 ; importance 
of, from sociological point 
of view, 349. 

Hosea, Book of, mentioned, 
99. 

Ilgen, early critic, 108. 



Individual, brought to him- 
self by Bible, 272 f. 

Ingersoll, Robert G., 67. 

Inspiration of the Bible: 
chapter on, 156 f. ; effects 
of true view of, 175 f.; 
position of Lutheran 
church in relation to, 158; 
views of Christian Fathers 
on, 157 ; views of Luther 
on, 158. 

Internationalism a dominant 
note at present, 381. 

Interpreters, beware of seem- 
ingly infallible, 296. 

Introduction, need of, to 
study of Bible, 69, 286. 

Introduction to Bible, by Ben- 
nett and Adeney, 113. 

Introduction to Bible for 
Teachers of Children, by 
Georgia Louise Chamber- 
lin, 361. 

Isaiah, Book of, 88, 90 ; 99. 

Israel, kingdom of, loi. 

Israelites, history of, 100. 

Jackson, A. W., reference 
and quotation, 196. 

Jamnia, Old Testament Can- 
on completed at, 113. 

Jehovah (Yahweh), term in 
Genesis for Deity, 108. 

Jehovistic document in Hexa- 
teuch, 109. 

Jerome, 61, 88, 158. 

Josephus, 129. 

Joshua, Book of, 107. 

Judah, kingdom of, loi. 

Judges, Book of, 113. 

Julicher, references, 74, 75, 
76, 124. 

Justin Martyr, 144. 



INDEX 



407 



Kent, Professor C. F., 99, 
109, III, 291, 295. 

Kent and Sanders, authors, 
99, 295. 

Kenyon, Frederick G., on 
manuscripts, 22, 26, 38, 
74, 76, 77- 

Kidd, Benjamin, quoted, 388, 
389, 390, 391. 

King, President H. C, quot- 
ed, 199. 

Kings, Books of, 114. 

Ladd, Professor G. T., quot- 
ed, 86, 143. 

Logia by Matthew, 141. 

Logos doctrine, in Ephesus, 
144 ; see Fourth Gospel. 

Lowell, J. R., quoted, 189. 

Luther, 28, 29 ; on inspira- 
tion, 158. 

Mabie, H. W., quoted, 2^. 
Manuscripts, 35^ 40 ; number 

known, 79. 
Martineau, Dr. James, 145, 

188, 197. 
Masoretes, 58, 84. 
Material nature, what it 

reveals, 190. 
McFadyen, Professor John 

E. : reference, 1 1 1 ; quoted 

at length on dates of Old 

Testament events and 

books, 118, 119. 
Messianic hope, 102. 
Micah, Book of, 99. 
Moabite Sltoncy 83. 
Monks, as transcribers, 25. 
Moody, D. L., 48, 49. 
Moore, Professor E. C., 20, 

50. 
Moore, Professor G. F., 108. 



Moral culture, Bible means 

of, 333- 
Moses, 100, 103, 106, 112. 
Moulton, Professor R. G., 

quoted, 238, 239. 
Munger, Dr. T. T., 237. 

Nash, Professor H. S., 69, 

70, ^2, 86, 87, 89 ; quoted 

at length, 258, 
Nestle, Professor E,, 80 note. 
New Testament : chapter on 

New View of, i2of. ; 

period covered by, 123. 
Nicene Creed, date of the 

adoption of, 19. 

Old Testament : chapter on 
New View of, 95 f. ; as 
literature, 96 ; dates com- 
prising, 118, 119; the 
voice of a people, 117. 

Opened World, The, article 
on, quoted, 383, 384. 

Origen, 65, 88, 158. 

Papyrus: material, 21; rolls, 
2Z ; perishable, 74 ; super- 
seded, 74. 

Parchment, 22, 26. 

Parker, Theodore, quoted, 
156. 

Paul, dates of epistles of, 
131, 135- 

Paul's life, chronology of, 
129, 130. 

Paul's missionary journeys, 
129. 

Pentateuch, the, 99, 105, 106, 
107, 108. 

Persia, mention of, 102. 

Philo, 120. 

Priestly Code in Hexateuch, 
109. 



4o8 



INDEX 



Priestly period of Jewish 
history, 102. 

Printing : invention of, 28 ; 
effect of, on text, 52. 

Private judgment, 217-21. 

Proof-texts, old-fashioned use 
of, not valid, 65. 

Protestant Reformation, 2^, 
51- 

Proverbs, the, 99, 115. 

Psalms, the, 99, 115. 

Public school : chapter on 
Bible in, 324 f. ; criticism 
of, as "godless," unjust, 
326, 345 ; legal situation 
respecting Bible in, 330, 
331 ; proper function of, 
in popular education, 346 ; 
possible advance regarding 
Bible in, 335, zz6. 

Puritan spirit and domestic 
worship, 352. 

Quotations from New Testa- 
ment in early Christian 
writings, 79. 

Race endowment, in relation 

to revelation, 193, 194. 
Reuss, Professor E. W. E. : 

reference, 25 ; quoted, 29. 
Revelation: chapter on The 

Divine, in the Bible, 180 f. ; 

limited by man's capacity, 

187. 
Revised Version, 42, 43. 
Reynolds, Dr., and English 

versions, 32. 

Samaria, fall of, loi. 

Samaritan Pentateuch, 83. 

Samuel, Books of, 113. 

Sanday, Dr. William : on 
Fourth Gospel, 146 ; on in- 
spiration, 182. 



Saul of Tarsus, 128. 

Separation of Church and 
State, 327 f. 

Shairp, Principal J. C, 
quoted on culture, 365, 
366. 

Smith, Professor George 
Adam, 108. 

Smith, Professor W. Robert- 
son, 86, 104, 105. 

Septuagint, the, 85, 105. 

Sheldon, Walter L,, 296, 333 ; 
quoted, 370. 

Significant events since Bible 
was written, 300. 

Spintua^l life, exalted type 
of, revealed in Bible, 244. 

Spiritual Outlook, The, by 
Selleck, reference, 251. 

Spiritual progress : actual, 
250 f. ; chapter on The 
Bible and, 247 f. 

Spiritualization of religion 
promoted by Bible, 260 f. 

Strong, Dr. Josiah, quoted, 
384. 

Sunday school : chapter on 
Bible in, 310 f.; child chief 
object in, 307 ; end sought 
in, 302 ; inadequacy of, 
304 ; principles for true 
use of Bible in, 307 f. 

Syria, mention of, 102. 

Syriac Version, 85. 

Talmud, 82, 84. 

Tatian, 144. 

Taverner, Richard, 31. 

Teacher, function of, in Sun- 
day school, 321. 

Temple Bible, The, 46, 127. 

Text : causes of corruptions 
in, 83 ; correction of errors 



INDEX 



409 



in, 85 ; errors in, of New 
Testament not suflScient 
seriously to affect main 
teachings, 81, 82 ; im- 
provements in, of New- 
Testament, 81. 

Teutonic : habit of mind, 
387, 388; tribes, 103. 

Textual criticism, 79, 80, 81. 

Tholuck, Dr. F. A. D., on in- 
spiration, 159, 160, 163, 
218. 

Thurber, Dr. Charles H., on 
laws regarding Bible in 
public school, 330, 331. 

Tischendorf, his discovery of 
manuscripts, 40, 41. 

Tolstoy, Count: quoted, 281; 
his indictment not valid 
against true view of Bible, 
281. 

Torah, the, no. 

Toy, Professor C. H., 100, 
114. 

Translations of Bible into 
European dialects, 25, 26 ; 
profitable to read various, 
244. 

Twentieth-Century Nezv Tes- 
tament, The 45. 

Tyndale, William, martyr. 



his great labors to produce 
English version, 29, 30, 35. 

Van Dyke, Henry, quoted on 

Christ's teaching, 200. 
Variations, causes of, in 

text, 7Z-77' 
Veneration for Bible a source 

of doctrine of infallibility, 

56, 59- 
Votaw, Professor Clyde W., 

on Sermon on the Mount, 

140 note. 
Vulgate, the, 22,, 85. 

Wendt, alluded to on Fourth 

Gospel, 145. 
Westcott, reference on New 

Testament chronology, 124. 
Wisdom literature, 115. 
Worms, Luther at, 30. 
Writing, art of, 102, 103. 
Writing of books, ancient 

mode of, 75, 76. 
Wyckliffe, early English 

translation, 27. 

Ximenes, Cardinal, 52. 

Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, 7. 

Young Women's Christian 
Association, 7. 



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